WALES

Departments: Advertising

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what his Department's total spending was on advertising and promotional campaigns in each year since 1997; and what the cost of each campaign was, broken down by costs relating to  (a) television,  (b) radio and  (c) print media.

Peter Hain: None.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Roof Terrace

Anne Main: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission when he expects the roof terrace to re-open for use of hon. Members' staff; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Ruane: To ask the hon. Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission how long the roof terrace has been closed to hon. Members; what work has been carried out; and when the roof terrace will be re-opened.

Nick Harvey: The roof terrace was closed, along with other roof areas in the parliamentary estate, on 28 September 2006 when a detailed health and safety audit indicated that there were significant risks when assessed under modern regulations. Since then priority has been given to providing safe access to those areas of the roofs where access is required to maintain the structure of the buildings. Work on the roof terrace has been limited to providing temporary fencing to prevent access to areas where people can and have put themselves at risk.
	This matter is under active consideration by the Speaker.

TRANSPORT

A5

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the reasons are for  (a) the delay to 2015-16 from 2010 of the completion of the A5 to M1 link and  (b) the change in the expected cost of the link between September 2005 and February 2007.

Stephen Ladyman: The information is as follows:
	 (a) The East of England Regional Assembly's advice accepted by the Secretary of State on the regional funding allocation was for the start of construction of the A5-M1 link to be delayed from 2008-09 to 2013-14. However, I have asked the Highways Agency to continue to progress the orders on a timetable that would keep open the possibilities of building M1 J11a early and accelerating the whole of the link road, should the necessary resources become available at an earlier stage.
	 (b) The principal reasons for the change in the expected cost of the link between September 2005, based on the outline design, and February 2007, based on the preferred route are additional inflation as a result of the later proposed construction date, and changes resulting from the choice of the northern route as the preferred route. Also, the current estimate has taken into account further work by the contractor on survey, design and buildability.

Air Traffic: Forecasts

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what financial contribution his Department made to the report by Oxford Economic Forecasting on the Economic Contribution of the Aviation Industry in the UK.

Gillian Merron: The Department's contribution was £23,500 (inclusive of VAT). The majority of the project was funded by aviation and other industry representatives.

Air Traffic: Forecasts

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in relation to the survey undertaken by Oxford Economic Forecasting report quoted at paragraphs 4.14 and 4.15 of his Future of Air Transport Progress report, how many questionnaires were sent out; and what proportion were returned.

Gillian Merron: Questionnaires were sent out to around 6,000 companies and 165 replies were received. Further detail can be obtained from the Oxford Economic Forecasting report, Annexe A.

Air Traffic: Forecasts

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he plans to publish details of the air traffic forecasts on which his Future of Air Transport Progress Report was based; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Future of Air Transport Progress Report states that a technical note on the air traffic forecasting methods and results outlined in the Progress Report will be published in 2007.

Aircraft: Air Conditioning

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the results have been of the Buildings Research Establishment's testing for tricresyl phosphate and other organophosphates in air sampling research carried out on UK commercial aircraft; and what plans he has for further air sampling research.

Gillian Merron: The Buildings Research Establishment report referred to was prepared in October 2003 for the Department of Health as part of the Aviation Health Working Group. It described a study to monitor cabin air quality aboard older aircraft types utilised in high volume short haul operations, as recommended by the House of Lords report on Air Travel and Health. The report found no obvious difference in the cabin environment between older types of aircraft and newer types and that overall, levels of measured air pollutants were always below any recommended health limits.
	The report can be found on the Department for Transport website at:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/aviation/hci/hacc/bre/.
	The Aviation Health Working Group will be commissioning a separate study of cabin air later in the year.

Aircraft: Air Conditioning

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the safety implications of the recent instructions by DHL Air Ltd (instruction No. INFO 010/07) advising pilots that low concentrations of fumes  (a) after engine start,  (b) during taxi and  (c) after take-off are normal, do not need to be reported and do not warrant use of emergency oxygen; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The DHL instruction referred to has been assessed by a CAA flight operations inspector as part of the full range of company instructions relating to smoke, fumes and air contamination. The instruction was promulgated as follow up information additional to the relevant normal, abnormal and emergency procedures. These include company guidance for the use of oxygen and masks. The inspector found the instruction acceptable in that context and the operator has taken steps to ensure in training sessions that it must not be interpreted as a dilution of the company's safety policy with regard to the reporting of incidents of this type.

Airports

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many international destinations were served by  (a) Heathrow,  (b) Gatwick and  (c) Stansted airports in the last year for which figures are available.

Gillian Merron: The data requested can be found in Annex A of the "Air Transport White Paper Progress Report 2006" on the Department for Transport's website: www.dft.gov.uk.

Airports: Passengers

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many passengers on international flights went through  (a) Heathrow,  (b) Gatwick and  (c) Stansted airports in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Gillian Merron: Total passengers at an airport can be defined as all terminal and transit passengers. Terminal passengers include all terminating and transferring (interlining/connecting) passengers.
	The number of terminal passengers on international flights is published in table 3 of "CAA Passenger Survey Report 2005".
	The number of transit passengers is not available for international flights. Total transit passengers, both domestic and international, are published in table 9 of "CAA Airport Statistics 2005", CAA website: www.caa.co.uk.

Airports: Passengers

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of passengers on international flights transferred or transited at  (a) Heathrow,  (b) Gatwick and  (c) Stansted airports in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Gillian Merron: The number of transfer passengers on international flights is published as "connect" passengers in table 3 of "CAA Passenger Survey Report 2005".
	The number of transit passengers is not available for international flights. CAA website: www.caa.co.uk .

Airports: Security

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether his Department has carried out any survey of the public's understanding of the new security regulations regarding the transport of liquids on aircraft.

Gillian Merron: It is not currently DfT policy to conduct passenger surveys in relation to any security functions deployed at airports. However, after the events of the 10 August 2006, information informing passengers of the restrictions pertaining to liquids being taken through security control posts was disseminated through the national press and media, the Department for Transport website, and the aviation and travel industry.

Aviation: Air Pollution

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will call for an emissions trading scheme to be included in the EU-US aviation negotiations currently taking place.

Gillian Merron: The Government are taking forward their objective to include aviation in the European emissions trading scheme through negotiations on a draft directive recently produced by the European Commission.

Aviation: Safety

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether UK airline pilots are required to report all cases of smoke or fumes in the aircraft technical log.

Gillian Merron: The European Aviation Safety Agency requirements concerning the aircraft technical log include the recording of information about each flight necessary to ensure continued flight safety. For commercial air transport flights, defects and malfunctions that affect the safe operation of the aircraft or the safety of its occupants, that are known to the commander of the aircraft, are required to be recorded in the technical log, or an alternative cabin defect log that is regarded as part of the technical log. Any occurrence of smoke or fumes in the cabin or flight deck that was considered to threaten the safety of aircraft or occupants would be required to be reported in the Technical log or cabin defect log.

Aviation: USA

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what scope there is for  (a) reciprocity and  (b) access to cabotage in the current aviation negotiations with the US air authorities.

Gillian Merron: Discussions have been taking place between the EU and the United States since 2003 on a comprehensive aviation treaty. Following the latest round of negotiations, a revised draft of a possible first stage agreement will be discussed at the EU Council of Transport Ministers on 22 March. The draft agreement as it stands provides a range of traffic and other rights to the airlines of both sides. A number of these would be granted on a reciprocal basis, though some limited rights would be granted to EU carriers only during the first stage. It does not include cabotage rights for the airlines of either side during the first stage.

Aviation: USA

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect on the cost of flights between the UK and the US likely to arise from the draft Open Skies aviation agreement reached between the EU and the US; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The level of air fares is a commercial matter for the airlines concerned. However, certain air fares from London Heathrow to the US are currently higher than those from equivalent hubs in other European countries which already have an open skies relationship with the US.

Aviation: USA

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the level of  (a) flights,  (b) passengers,  (c) noise pollution,  (d) carbon emissions and  (e) global warming of the draft Open Skies aviation agreement reached between the EU and the US; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The Government considers that the best way to tackle the environmental impacts of aviation is through the programme of measures it is pursuing including the addition of aviation in the EU emissions trading scheme, promoting technological developments and working closely with operators to make improvements through operational changes.
	This is a strategic environmental approach which is not dependent on negotiations on individual bilateral air service agreements.

Aviation: USA

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of the draft Open Skies aviation agreement reached between the EU and the US on the ability of the UK and EU to develop legislation on  (a) air pollution,  (b) greenhouse gas emissions and  (c) noise pollution; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The proposed agreement does not affect the existing ability of the UK or the EU to take additional legislative measures to deal with the impact of aviation on the environment.

Blue Badge Scheme

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what steps his Department has taken to promote the Blue Badge map website;
	(2)  whether he plans to expand the geographical coverage of the Blue Badge map website;
	(3)  how much was spent administering the Blue Badge map website in the last five months.

Anne McGuire: I have been asked to reply.
	DWP is responsible for the Disabled People and Carers information within the Directory website.
	A range of marketing activity has been conducted to promote the new service. For example, several disability-related media outlets were approached to highlight the mapping facility and articles have appeared in leading disability publications and on a number of websites that are visited by disabled people. The facility has also been promoted at events and exhibitions, as well as through promotional leaflets and online marketing activities.
	In addition, the Disabled People and Carers franchise of the Directgov website, which is hosted by the Office for Disability Issues, a unit within DWP set up to co-ordinate work on disability across Government. It contacted over 500 organisations and individuals, including local authorities, charities and organisations with an interest in disability, to draw their attention to the facility. They were encouraged to place links to the mapping facility on their own websites and to promote the service to other interested parties.
	The mapping facility has been purchased under licence initially for one year and currently covers 64 towns and cities across the UK. We are currently considering whether to renew the contract which would potentially expand its geographical coverage.
	The cost of administering the service cannot be disaggregated from the overall costs of maintaining and promoting the Disabled People and Carers section of the Directgov website.

Departments: Air Pollution

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent estimate has been made of the carbon footprint of his Department.

Gillian Merron: The 2005-06 estimated carbon footprint for the Department is 50,116,258 kg/CO2. This figure includes all building emissions and travel for the Department, other than the amounts for air and rail travel for the seven DfT agencies, which are not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	There is a cross-Government target for the central Government office estate to be carbon neutral by 2012, which will require Departments to offset emissions every year from 2012 in order to achieve a balance of zero net carbon emissions.
	All central Government official and ministerial air travel has been captured under offsetting schemes since April 2006, and to provide the figures for what the levels of emissions were last year from departmental air travel, and the anticipated cost of offsetting those emissions through the Government Carbon Offsetting Fund (GCOF).

Departments: Regeneration

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proportion of his Department's spending was devoted to  (a) urban and  (b) rural regeneration and redevelopment in (i) 2003-04, (ii) 2004-05 and (iii) 2005-06.

Gillian Merron: The proportion of the Department's spending on urban and rural regeneration and redevelopment is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departments: Travel

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles were travelled by his Department's  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials on Government business by (i) air, (ii) rail and (iii) road in 2006.

Gillian Merron: It is not currently possible to separate ministerial mileage from that incurred by officials. The figures for Ministers and officials for the financial year 2005-06 are as follows: air travel 5,641,508 miles, rail travel 3,328,585 miles, road travel 3,786,021 miles. This excludes DSA, DVLA, GCDA, HA, VGA and VOSA, who do not hold the information in the format requested.
	All travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code, Travel by Ministers and the Civil Service Management Code.

Heathrow Airport: Night Flying

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of night flights to and from Heathrow airport on the London economy; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: In making its decision about the restrictions to apply to night flying at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports from October 2006 to October 2012, the Government took account of the combined effects on the national economy of night flights at these airports. There has been no separate specific consideration of the impact of night flying at Heathrow on the London economy.
	A regulatory impact assessment was published on 6 June 2006, when the Secretary of State announced the restrictions on night flying to apply at Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports from October 2006. It makes a broad statement on the economic importance of night flying at the designated airports and discusses the economic evidence presented by consultees in response to the stage two consultation on the proposed restrictions. This document is on the internet at the following address:
	http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/aviation/environmentalissues/nighthgs/

Heathrow Airport: Passengers

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many of the international routes served by Heathrow airport depend for their commercial viability on transfer or transit passengers; and for which routes this is the case.

Gillian Merron: The Department for Transport does not hold this information.

London Underground

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the total capital expenditure on London Underground (LU) was in each year since 1990 during which his Department had responsibility for LU, broken down by line.

Gillian Merron: Responsibility for London Underground passed to Transport for London and the Mayor of London on 15 July 2003. Performance since then has been an operational matter for London Underground who are best placed to answer direct. London Underground does not record investment broken down by lines. However the total figures to 2002-03 are shown in the following table. In April 2000, London Underground adopted new accounting treatment for its investment expenditure which removed the category 'investment renewals': the majority of this expenditure was reclassified as capital, although some (£90 million) became resource expenditure. Therefore the figures before and after April 2000 are not directly comparable and are presented in two separate tables with the years 1990-91 to 1999-2000 on one consistent basis and those for a restated 1999-2000 to 2005-06 are on another. It is normal accounting practice when a change in accounting treatment occurs to restate the previous year's figures on the same basis in the accounts, so that a true comparison can be made.
	
		
			  Investment expenditure 
			  £ million (outturn prices) 
			   1990-91  1991-92  1992-93  1993-94  1994-95  1995-96  1996-97  1997-98  1998-99  1999-2000 
			 Capital 327 225 414 320 319 210 173 133 171 134 
			 Renewals 87 70 218 159 184 275 198 191 244 208 
			 Total core business 414 295 632 479 503 485 371 324 415 342 
			 Jubilee line extension 40 63 68 261 396 587 660 476 283 655 
			 CrossRail 5 12 29 45 30 16 4 — — — 
			 Total investment 459 370 729 785 929 1,088 1,035 800 698 997 
		
	
	
		
			  Investment expenditure 
			  £ million (outturn prices) 
			   1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03 
			 Capital 252 293 418 402 
			 Total core business 252 293 418 402 
			 Jubilee line extension 655 — — — 
			 CrossRail — — — — 
			 Total investment 907 293 418 402

London Underground

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many  (a) track and  (b) signal failures there were on the London Underground (LU) in each year since 1990 during which his Department had responsibility for LU, broken down by line.

Gillian Merron: Responsibility for London Underground passed to Transport for London and the Mayor of London on 15 July 2003. Performance since then has been an operational matter for London Underground who are best placed to answer direct. Information on the years prior to 1996 could be provided only at disproportionate time and cost. The numbers of track and signal failures that caused more than a two minute delay for the period 1996-97 to 2002-03 are:
	
		
			  Signals 
			   1996-97  1997-98  1998-99  1999-00  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03 
			 Bakerloo 264 292 249 355 64 131 143 
			 Central 644 880 308 335 274 554 495 
			 District 303 269 278 394 246 500 454 
			 East London(1) 32 52 49 
			 Jubilee 79 110 197 338 204 354 257 
			 Circle and Hammersmith 129 131 125 238 9 286 203 
			 Metropolitan 209 266 194 290 267 374 353 
			 Northern 298 323 216 317 188 357 551 
			 Piccadilly 261 241 213 202 184 161 161 
			 Victoria 115 166 149 131 100 308 382 
			 Waterloo and City(2)  16 27 29 18 22 23 
			 Total signals 2,3021 2;302 1,929 2,600 1,746 3,099 3,071 
		
	
	
		
			  Track 
			   1996-97  7997-98  7998-99  1999-00  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03 
			 Bakerloo 193 201 176 168 96 125 76 
			 Central 203 92 65 50 82 103 63 
			 District 74 51 69 83 162 94 143 
			 East London(1) 8 8 11 
			 Jubilee 45 38 77 146 43 77 95 
			 Circle and Hammersmith 75 61 57 62 51 84 81 
			 Metropolitan 105 73 83 82 108 83 74 
			 Northern 141 165 109 105 95 115 171 
			 Piccadilly 92 110 109 135 129 89 105 
			 Victoria 54 80 66 66 25 41 36 
			 Waterloo and City(2) 5 2 8 
			 Total track 982 982 811 897 804 821 863 
			 (1) East London Line was included with Jubilee line until 1999-2000. (2) Waterloo and City Line included with Central Line until 1999-2000.

M6: Repairs and Maintenance

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 9 March 2007,  Official Report, column 2261W, on the M6: Repairs and Maintenance, if he will place a copy of the internal review document of safety options in the Library.

Stephen Ladyman: I have arranged for copies of the internal review document to be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Motor Vehicles: Testing

Robert Key: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles were tested at the Salisbury Vehicle Testing Station in each month of 2006, broken down by class of vehicle; and how many vehicles  (a) passed and  (b) failed.

Stephen Ladyman: The information requested has been placed in the Libraries of the House.

Parking

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many workplace parking schemes were established in each of the last 10 years.

Gillian Merron: We do not collect or hold information centrally on the number and location of workplace parking schemes or workplace travel plans in the UK. Any information that is available would be held by local authorities. Examples of good practice can be found in the Department's publications 'Making Travel Plans Work' and 'A Travel Plan Resource Pack for Employers'.

Parking: Regulation

Tony Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what restrictions apply to the parking of  (a) large vans and  (b) caravans (i) in residential streets and (ii) on private driveways.

Gillian Merron: The only national restrictions that apply to the parking of large vans or caravans in residential streets are that caravan lamps must be fully lit and not obscured when caravans are parked at night.
	Parking control is generally a local issue and local authorities may make a Traffic Regulation Order regulating, restricting or prohibiting the on-street parking of different classes of vehicle, including caravans.
	Operators of goods vehicles weighing over 3.5 tonnes are required to have an operator's license, the conditions of which may require vehicles to be kept off the road when not in use.
	There are no national restrictions that apply to the parking of large vans or caravans on private driveways.

Public Service Vehicles: Regulation

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the  (a) one-off and  (b) recurring cost of implementing the Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness, Equipment, Use and Certification) (Amendment) Regulations 2002 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators.

Gillian Merron: There were two sets of amendments to the Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness, Equipment, Use and Certification) Regulations in 2002. The first, SI 2002 No. 335, was to bring the regulations into alignment with the Public Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations SI 2000 No. 1970, and the second, SI 2002 No. 489 changed the fees for inspections. There were no costs associated with the former, as the amendments did not introduce new requirements in addition to SI 2000 No. 1970. A Regulatory Impact Assessment for SI 2000 No. 1970 was placed in the House Library when these regulations were made.
	The fees for inspections of large passenger vehicles are normally reviewed annually, and the costs to business arising from SI 2002 No. 489 coming into force until the next fee increase (August 2003) amounted to £39,496.
	The Department for Transport is committed to better regulation. We aim to introduce new regulation only where absolutely necessary, and to simplify existing regulation to reduce burdens.

Public Transport: Contracts

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many  (a) quality contracts and  (b) quality partnerships were established in each of the last five years.

Gillian Merron: Since the coming into force of the Transport Act 2000, quality contracts provisions have not been used. No statutory partnership schemes are currently in force, however in January 2007 a statutory quality partnership scheme for north Sheffield was formally signed by Sheffield city council and the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority and Executive. This will come into effect in July 2007.
	Voluntary partnerships already exist widely across the country.
	The Government's proposals, set out in 'Putting Passengers First' in December 2006, aim to make quality contracts a more realistic option and to increase the scope of quality partnership schemes.

Railways: Airports

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many new  (a) rail and  (b) light rail links to airports have been built since 1997.

Gillian Merron: Heathrow Express, a direct rail service from London Paddington to Heathrow airport, was opened in 1998. The Docklands Light Railway was extended in 2005 to provide access to London City airport. Also in 2005, the Welsh Assembly Government funded the reopening of the Vale of Glamorgan line for passenger trains in order to serve Cardiff International airport (previously the line had been suitable for freight transport only).

Railways: Finance

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what funding is available to assist communities in opening and running branch railways.

Tom Harris: There is no specific fund for reopening branch lines, but such reopenings are eligible for funding through the Local Transport Plan process, the Transport Innovation Fund and the Communities Fund. The Government's community rail development strategy encourages local stakeholders to work together to support existing lines and services and the same principles can apply to reopenings.

Railways: Franchises

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 9 March 2007,  Official Report, column 2262W, on railways: franchises, what the timetable is for the decision to be made on extending c2c's franchise beyond 2011.

Tom Harris: We would expect to complete this review within the next two years.

Shipping

Julian Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the availability of  (a) British merchant seafarers and  (b) British flagged merchant vessels to meet foreseeable strategic defence needs.

Stephen Ladyman: In 2004 the Department for Transport, jointly with Ministry of Defence, commissioned the London Metropolitan University to produce a quarterly assessment of the number of UK seafarers up to and including 2006. The Department for Transport also collate an assessment of militarily useful UK registered merchant shipping on a regular basis using an evaluation criterion provided by the MOD.

Travel: Business

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will promote the use of internet conferencing to businesses as an alternative to travel.

Gillian Merron: The Department encourages employers to develop workplace travel plans, which may include teleconferencing and teleworking, to reduce car use for the commute and during the course of work. We recognise the benefits of these and also the potential of internet conferencing in reducing the need to travel.
	On 22 February 2007, we launched the National Business Travel Network to promote and support increased take-up of travel plans, particularly by the business community. Part of the work of this network is to encourage greater use of teleconferencing and teleworking. The network has so far been joined by 30 national companies as well as business groups and trade associations.

Travel: Business

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of  (a) internal and  (b) international same-day return flights made by businesses in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Gillian Merron: The number of international day visits by UK residents for business purposes in each of the last five years is shown in the following table.
	The information requested is not available for internal visits. Information is available from the CAA Passenger Survey on domestic air travel but this survey is only carried out at a selected number of UK airports each year. Day visits abroad by UK residents for business purposes, 2001-05
	
		
			   Day visits (thousand) 
			 2001 607 
			 2002 653 
			 2003 604 
			 2004 651 
			 2005 630 
			  Source:  International Passenger Survey

SOLICITOR-GENERAL

Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill

David Lidington: To ask the Solicitor-General pursuant to the answer of 22 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1944W, on the Northern Ireland (Offences) Bill, when the Attorney-General last met the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to discuss the subject of On the Runs.

Mike O'Brien: The answer referred to is at 22 February 2007,  Official Report, column 884W.
	The Attorney-General last spoke with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland to discuss "On the Runs" in October 2006.

Trooper Williams

Ben Wallace: To ask the Solicitor-General what the cost was of the  (a) prosecution and  (b) defence of Trooper Williams in the High Court in April 2005.

Mike O'Brien: Although there were no criminal hearings before the High Court in this case, I assume the reference to the High Court is to the abuse of process argument by the defence which was heard at the Royal Courts of Justice before Mrs. Justice Hallett on 21 to 23 February 2005. That defence application was dismissed. The CPS then considered the matter and at a hearing in April 2005 before the Crown court offered no evidence.
	The total CPS costs in this case were £28,195.24. This breaks down as follows:
	Leading Counsel, total fees (VAT inclusive)—£13,218.75;
	Junior Counsel, total fees (VAT inclusive)—£12,613.62;
	and a transcript of the application to dismiss abuse of process (VAT inclusive)—£2,362.87.
	No witnesses were called and so no witness costs were incurred. The aforementioned figure does not include staff or running costs, which are attributable to the operation of the CPS as a whole and cannot be assessed on an individual case basis.
	The costs incurred by the defence are not recorded by my Department.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agricultural Wages Board

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to review the future of the Agricultural Wages Board.

Barry Gardiner: The Agricultural Wages Board for England and Wales was reviewed in 1999-2000. As a non-departmental public body it is now subject to the new, light touch periodic business reviews. There are no plans for a review at present.

Agricultural Wages Board: Equal Opportunities

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs why the Agricultural Wages Board did not receive an exemption from the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations.

Barry Gardiner: The Government did consider a specific exemption from the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations for the agricultural minimum wage. However, we did not consider that the case made by the Agricultural Wages Board provided the necessary evidence to objectively justify such an exemption, in the context of a national social policy objective. If the Agricultural Wages Board presents further evidence to support and justify an exemption, the Government will reconsider its position.

Agriculture: Air Pollution

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations he has received on the cost of implementing the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations for individual farms.

Ben Bradshaw: Various representations have been received by the Department on the costs to farmers of implementing the Pollution Prevention and Control Regulations. These have been in the form of parliamentary questions, public correspondence and letters from Members of both Houses.

Air Pollution: Business

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how many FTSE 100 companies meet the minimum reporting guidelines on greenhouse gas emissions;
	(2)  if he will estimate the annual carbon dioxide emissions in each of the last five years from companies which are not meeting the minimum reporting guidelines on greenhouse gas emissions.

Ian Pearson: DEFRA's guidelines on environmental reporting, published in January 2006, recommend that companies report their 'direct' and 'indirect' emissions in line with the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) protocol, an initiative set up by the World Resources Institute and World Business Council for Sustainable Development. This protocol is also used by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), which acts on behalf of 225 global investors with total assets of $31 trillion. On an annual basis, the CDP asks global companies to disclose information on greenhouse gas emissions.
	83 per cent. of FTSE100 companies responded to CDP's 2006 information request, of which 55 per cent. provided quantified emissions data and 24 per cent. provided emissions data that met the protocol's reporting requirement on 'direct' GHG emissions.
	In the absence of a globally accepted framework for corporate GHG emissions reporting, DEFRA is currently in discussions with CDP about the opportunities provided by its role as the Secretariat to the new Climate Disclosure Standards Board. The board was launched at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos to develop and advocate a globally accepted corporate climate reporting standard.
	DEFRA does not collect its own estimates of the GHG emissions of individual companies.

Biofuels

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much land is used for  (a) biomass,  (b) road use biofuel and  (c) other energy crops; and what estimate he has made of the amount needed to grow enough biofuel to meet the five per cent. biofuel target for road fuel.

Ian Pearson: In 2005, the latest year for which comprehensive data are currently available, a total of around 209,000 hectares was estimated to be used in England for crops purpose-grown for use as industrial materials and bio-energy. Of this total, oilseed rape for biofuel use accounted for nearly 93,000 hectares. This figure relates only to plantings under the Energy Aid Scheme as the end-use for crops not receiving this aid is not known. Energy crops for use in the generation of heat and electricity accounted for around 600 hectares. Plantings of energy crops have increased significantly since 2005, with over 4,500 hectares now in the ground. Biomass also comes from non purpose-grown sources such as straw and woodfuel from forestry operations.
	To meet the 5 per cent. transport biofuel target entirely from UK sources would require between 1 to 1.5 million hectares of crops. However, we anticipate that biofuels in the UK will come from a mixture of home-grown and imported crops, recycled vegetable oils and tallow. In the longer term, as technology improves, straw and wood could be used for bioethanol production, so reducing pressure on land.

Biofuels: Cumbria

David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the area of land in Cumbria which is suitable for growing biofuel crops.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 13 March 2007
	The main crops which can be grown in England to produce biofuels are oilseed rape, wheat and sugar beet, however we have not carried out research into the availability or suitability of land for growing these crops at county level.
	In Cumbria, based on the June 2005 Agriculture and Horticulture Census for England, the Region, Counties/Unitary Authorities, approximately 471 hectares of oilseed rape and 5,855 hectares of wheat were grown. Some sugar beet was also grown, however, in order to protect the identity of individual holdings, detailed figures are not included. The survey does not provide information on end use, so it is not possible to determine what proportion of these crops may have been grown for biofuel production.

Birds: Registration

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the public consultation on the proposed changes to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Schedule 4, and the registration of rare birds kept in captivity.

Barry Gardiner: The public consultation closed on 16 February 2007 and we are currently considering the responses. A summary of responses received will be published shortly on the DEFRA website.

Business Resource Efficiency and Waste Programme

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  with which sectors of industry he is working on the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste Programme;
	(2)  what update there has been by industry of funding under the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste Programme;
	(3)  what progress has been made by the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste Programme; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 14 March 2007
	The Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) Programme is returning £284 million raised from the landfill tax escalator back to business between 2005 and 2008 to improve their resource efficiency and to minimise the levels of waste that are unnecessarily sent to landfill. A Steering Group, consisting of various interested organisations including businesses, advises on the development of the programme.
	The Programme provides assistance to all business sectors in England. Funding must provide a potential benefit to those sectors paying landfill tax and, where possible, address those sectors most affected by landfill tax increases. However, information on the sectoral uptake of assistance by English businesses is not stored centrally.
	Evaluation results for 2005-06, which are conservative, indicate that BREW saved businesses nearly £88 million and increased their sales by over £14 million. There were also reductions in water use, waste sent to landfill and the amounts of raw materials used by businesses. Many of the benefits will be seen beyond 2005-06. Work is currently under way to assess the impact of Programme spending in the current year, 2006-07.

Carbon Dioxide: Pollution Control

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the proportion of voluntary carbon offsetting in the UK complying with  (a) the CDM Gold Standard,  (b) certified emissions reductions generated by the Clean Development Mechanism,  (c) emissions reductions units generated by joint implementation projects,  (d) EU allowances under the EU Emissions Trading Scheme,  (e) his Department's proposed voluntary code of best practice for carbon offsetting and  (f) uncertified voluntary emissions reductions.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 14 March 2007
	DEFRA does not collect information on the voluntary carbon offsetting market and has not made any estimate.
	The Department has published a consultation paper aimed at establishing a voluntary Code of Best Practice for the provision of carbon offsetting to UK customers. The consultation will finish on 13 April 2007 and the intention is to have the code operating by autumn 2007.
	We will report on the code's uptake once it has come into operation.

Carbon Dioxide: Pollution Control

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research he has  (a) commissioned and  (b) supported into the effect of introducing iron sulphate into the ocean to increase phytoplankton activity and absorb quantities of carbon dioxide.

Ian Pearson: The Department has not commissioned, nor supported any research on the effect of introducing iron sulphate in the ocean to increase phytoplankton activity and absorb quantities of carbon dioxide.
	The Department recognises that, although there may be value in investigating some engineering solutions to combat climate change, there are concerns about their ancillary effects on the environment, the practicalities and the costs of such solutions. The Department's key priority remains finding ways to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to a level that will prevent dangerous climate change, as well as the need for national and international action.

Carbon Emissions

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the carbon savings in  (a) households,  (b) the business sector,  (c) central Government and  (d) local government in (i) million tonnes of carbon and (ii) million tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum in each year since 2004; and what projections he has made for the years up to 2010.

Ian Pearson: Figures published by the Department show that total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions fell by 3.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents between 2004-05. CO2 emissions fell by 0.4 million tonnes during this period, that is, 0.1 million tonnes Carbon (MtC). Savings by individual end-use sectors are not yet available but DEFRA hopes to publish details later this month.
	2005 was the first year of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). Under the EU ETS, UK companies are able to buy emissions allowances from other EU countries. Purchase of these allowances is to be taken into account when determining whether the Kyoto target and 2010 domestic goal have been met.
	UK installations covered by the scheme emitted 242 million tonnes of CO2 in 2005, which was 27 million tonnes more than their allocations for that year. The electricity supply industry emitted 36.5 million tonnes more than its allocation; other sectors emitted 9.5 million tonnes less. Adjusted for emissions trading, UK CO2 emissions in 2005 were about 527 million tonnes—approximately 11 per cent. lower than 1990 levels.
	Projections of emissions, and hence savings, are not provided on a year by year basis, but at five-yearly intervals. Furthermore, projections are made only for the whole of the public sector, not for individual parts. Using the latest published figures (UK climate change programme 2006) for actual 2004 emissions and for projected emissions for 2010 (The Energy Challenge, Annex H—which updated those used in the above climate change programme), projected savings in 2010 relative to 1990 for these sectors are:
	Households—22.0 MtCO2 (6.0 MtC)
	Business—37.9 MtCO2 (10.35 MtC)
	Public sector—7.5 MtCO2 (2.05 MtC)
	DEFRA will publish an updated appraisal of the impact of policies and measures included in the 2006 climate change programme later this year. This report will look at the progress of individual policies and measures, and provide a revised projection, if necessary, of the projected saving each policy and measure will deliver in 2010, based on latest available information.

Departments: Furniture

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many items of furniture were  (a) lost and  (b) stolen from his Department in each year since 1997; and what the value was of those items in each year.

Barry Gardiner: In 2006 a small sofa was stolen, approximate cost £350. No other items have been lost or stolen since 1997.

Departments: Official Cars

Mark Francois: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many vehicles belonging to his Department were  (a) lost and  (b) stolen in each year since 1997; and what the (i) make and model and (ii) value was of each vehicle.

Barry Gardiner: DEFRA came into being in June 2001. Since that time, and from information held centrally, no vehicles have been reported lost or stolen.

Departments: Official Engagements

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will list his official engagements from 1 January to 28 February 2007.

Barry Gardiner: The Secretary of State had the following official engagements during January and February.
	
		
			   Engagement 
			 3 January Speech, Oxford Farming Conference 
			 10 January Country Landowners Association to discuss food issues 
			 11 January Tesco to discuss food labelling 
			 11 January Climate Change Task Force to discuss climate change issues 
			 16 January Waste Industry Stakeholders to discuss waste issues 
			 18 January Marks and Spencer to discuss climate change issues 
			 20 to 24 January Visit to Sustainable Development Summit in India 
			 29 January Agriculture and Fish Council, Brussels 
			 30 January BioRegional to discuss various issues 
			 31 January Global Cool to discuss climate change 
			 31 January Lehman Brothers to discuss climate change 
			 1 February Energy Savings Trust to discuss energy saving 
			 2 February Visit to Edinburgh on range of environmental issues 
			 20 February Environment Council, Brussels 
			 21 February Representatives from a number of supermarkets to discuss various issues 
			 22 February National Farmers Union to discuss various issues 
			 22 February GMB Union to discuss climate change 
			 26 February Speech, National Farmers Union Conference 
			 27 February Speech, Green Alliance 
			 28 February ENCAMS to discuss sustainable schools 
		
	
	In addition to the meetings disclosed, he also had a number of other internal meetings with officials.

Departments: Orders and Regulations

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his most recent estimate is of the  (a) one-off cost and  (b) recurring cost of implementing the Detergents Regulations 2005 (SI 2005/2469) to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators.

Ian Pearson: A Regulatory Impact Assessment carried out before the introduction of the Detergents Regulations 2005 estimated that the total one-off compliance costs would be between £8.4 million and £14 million based on compliance testing of 2,800 surfactants. Given the long lead in for these regulations, the costs of additional labelling requirements fell within normal business running costs which were assisted by a six month transition period after the regulations came into force.
	As there is relatively little industry development of new surfactants for use in the detergents industry, recurring compliance testing costs are nominal. There are no one-off or recurring administrative costs and no costs to the regulators. These regulations ensure that detergents degrade quickly ensuring high standards of environmental protection.
	DEFRA is committed to regulating better and has a target of a 25 per cent. reduction in administrative burdens. The implementation of a more risk based approach to regulation, in conjunction with tougher penalties combined with improved effectiveness via focus on outcomes, and simplification where possible, is fully consistent with this.

Departments: Orders and Regulations

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the  (a) one-off cost and  (b) ongoing costs of implementing the Genetically Modified Organisms (Traceability and Labelling) (England) Regulations 2004 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators.

Ian Pearson: A full Regulatory Impact Assessment was published alongside the Genetically Modified Organisms (Traceability and Labelling) (England) Regulations 2004. Copies were made available in the Library of the House. It is also available from the DEFRA website at:
	http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/regulat/ria/2004/gmolabelling.pdf

Departments: Orders and Regulations

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his most recent estimate is of the  (a) one-off cost and  (b) recurring costs of implementing the Water Environment (Water Framework Directive) (England and Wales) Regulations 2003 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators.

Ian Pearson: The most recent estimate of the costs of implementing the Water Framework Directive (WFD) were published in the Final Regulatory Impact Assessment (2004). The cost of compliance that could be quantified at that stage amounted to be between £450 million and £630 million per annum. The RIA also assessed the cost of implementation for the Environment Agency to be £7 million per annum
	Benefits that could be quantified and valued appeared to be in the region of £560 million per annum. Given the range of benefits which have not been quantified this is considered to be an underestimate and represents a relatively small proportion of the estimated damages that may be avoided.
	A revision of the overall RIA for WFD implementation is planned for 2007.
	DEFRA is committed to regulating better and has a target of a 25 per cent. reduction in administrative burdens. The implementation of a more risk based approach to regulation, in conjunction with tougher penalties combined with improved effectiveness via focus on outcomes, and simplification where possible, is fully consistent with this.

Departments: Travel

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many miles were travelled by his Department's  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials on Government business by (i) air, (ii) rail and (iii) road in 2006.

Barry Gardiner: Information held centrally on miles travelled by Ministers and officials on Government business by air, rail and road in 2006 is as follows:
	
		
			  Mileage by travel mode 
			   Ministers  Officials 
			 Car (1)— (1)— 
			 Rail (2)16,263 (2)2,015,668 
			 Air (2)135,557 (2)2,639,751 
			 (1) Not held centrally. (2) Mileage available from 1 April to 31 December 2006, where travel is booked on departmental contracts. Data for the first quarter of the year is not available 
		
	
	All travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code, Travel by Ministers and the Civil Service Management Code.
	Vehicle mileage is reported by financial year. DEFRA officials drove 8,930,363 miles on Government business in financial year 2005-06. Mileage collation for financial year 2006-07 will be available in June 2007.

Diesel Fuel: Agriculture

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how many people were charged with using illegal red diesel in  (a) England and  (b) Lancashire in each of the last 10 years;
	(2)  how many farmers were charged with the illegal use of red diesel for non-agricultural use in  (a) England and  (b) Lancashire in each of the last 10 years.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	The number of people convicted in relation to hydrocarbon oils fraud in mainland Great Britain is available in the HMRC annual report, and is shown in the following table. The 2006-07 figure will be reported in annual report later this year. The occupation of the people convicted is not reported.
	
		
			   Number of people convicted in Great Britain 
			 2001-02 9 
			 2002-03 8 
			 2003-04 17 
			 2004-05 12 
			 2005-06 14

Electronic Tagging: Sheep

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  if he will make a statement on the generic animal number format for electronic identification for sheep;
	(2)  how many unique animal numbers for sheep will be available for the UK under plans to introduce electronic identification for sheep.

Ben Bradshaw: EU Council Regulation 21/2004 requires the code structure of electronic identification (EID) transponders to be compliant with International Standards Organisation (ISO) standard 11784. This provides for a 12 digit binary number (the highest number being 274,877,906,043) to be used to identify each animal. However, this range of numbers is not available for sheep alone. The ISO code structure applies to all animals which may be electronically identified so we therefore need to build a way to identify each species into the numbering sequence.
	We have yet to decide on what numbering system we will adopt should EID be introduced. Discussions with the devolved Governments and interested organisations in England are ongoing.

Electronic Tagging: Sheep

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when he expects the European Commission to publish their implementation report on electronic identification for sheep.

Ben Bradshaw: The Commission's implementation report on electronic identification for sheep is expected to be available this spring.

Energy: Business

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the take-up is of the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste Management Programme in each region.

Ben Bradshaw: The Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) Programme is returning £284 million raised from the landfill tax escalator back to business between 2005 and 2008 to improve their resource efficiency and to minimise the levels of waste that are unnecessarily sent to landfill.
	A portion of the funding is delivered through the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs), in order to co-ordinate delivery of the BREW Programme measures at the regional level, and to carry out regionally specific projects. In 2005-06, £5 million was awarded to the RDAs for the first purpose only, with £11.71 million provided for both purposes in 2006-07.
	The majority of BREW funding is awarded to a series of national delivery bodies, including Envirowise, the Waste and Resources Action Programme, the Environment Agency, the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme and the Carbon Trust. DEFRA does not hold a breakdown of how this funding is spent at a regional level.

Exhaust Emissions: Aviation

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  what the carbon emissions were of international flights to and from the UK in each of the last five years;
	(2)  what the levels of carbon dioxide emissions were from internal domestic flights in the UK in each of the last five years;
	(3)  what the level of carbon emissions was from the aviation industry in each of the last five years.

Ian Pearson: The following table shows emissions of carbon dioxide from domestic UK flights, international flights leaving UK airports and total emissions from all UK aviation, in million tonnes of carbon dioxide (MtCO2) in each year from 2000 to 2005. Emissions from flights arriving in the UK are not estimated.
	
		
			   Emissions from domestic aviation  Emissions from international aviation from UK( 1)  Total emissions from domestic and international aviation 
			 2000 1.96 30.25 32.21 
			 2001 2.06 29.49 31.55 
			 2002 2.07 28.94 31.01 
			 2003 2.11 29.64 31.76 
			 2004 2.30 33.13 35.43 
			 2005 2.46 35.01 37.47 
			 (1) Definition of the UK excludes UK overseas territories. 
		
	
	International aviation is reported as an information item in the UK greenhouse gas inventory but does not, by international agreement, count towards national totals under the Kyoto Protocol.
	The impact of aviation on climate change is not limited to CO2 emissions. Although there is need for further research, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has estimated that the total climate change impact of aviation is between two and four times greater than that of its CO2 emissions alone.

Exhaust Emissions: Shipping

Alex Salmond: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the carbon emissions were of the naval shipping industry in each of the last five years.

Ian Pearson: The emissions of a particular industry can be explained only on an end user basis, not a source basis. To calculate emissions from the Naval shipping industry one would have to look at such things as the steel and other materials used, the electricity used etc. and work out what the carbon cost of those are. The UK Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory, which is required by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, does not collect emissions data on this basis.

Farms: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how much his Department plans to allocate to farmers in Lancashire to improve the environmental sustainability of farms.

Barry Gardiner: Environmental Stewardship (ES) is the current main funding mechanism by which land managers are encouraged to deliver effective environmental management on their land. Budgets for the schemes operating under ES (Entry Level Stewardship, Organic Entry Level Stewardship and Higher Level Stewardship) are allocated by region, rather than by county. However, in Lancashire there is already a commitment to pay £2,392,757 annually to agreement holders under these schemes. The hon. Member may also wish to note that under the predecessor scheme to ES, Countryside Stewardship, the annual commitment for 2007 in Lancashire is £2,359,098.
	We are unable to confirm the regional budgets for ES until we receive approval of the new Rural Development Programme for England (2007 -13) from the European Commission. Negotiations over the final funding package, including the question of voluntary modulation, are continuing. However, in advance of formal approval we are keeping ES open to new applications. Agreements entered into since 1 January 2007 are provisional and are being funded from existing indicative budgets agreed when the scheme was launched.

Flood Control

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many homes were assessed to be at significant risk of flooding, defined as >1.3 per cent. probability, in  (a) 2003,  (b) 2004,  (c) 2005 and  (d) 2006.

Ian Pearson: The figures for properties in England identified as being at significant risk of flooding (defined as a probability of flooding in any one year greater than 1.3 per cent. or one in 75) from the Environment Agency's national flood risk assessments are:
	2003: no assessment undertaken;
	2004: 315,000 properties, with subsequent analysis indicating that approximately 285,000 were residential;
	2005: 517,000 properties, but the assessment did not differentiate between residential and commercial;
	2006: 469,000 properties of which approximately 393,000 are residential.
	I would like to take this opportunity to clarify my answer of 28 February 2007,  Official Report, column 1328W, in which the figure for the 2004 assessment of properties at significant risk related to residential properties only, while all other figures related to residential and commercial properties.
	It should also be noted that the differences between assessments are almost entirely due to changes in data and analysis techniques as opposed to the actual flood risk, for example the number of properties within the floodplain for which no result is available has fallen dramatically from 265,000 in 2004 to 28,000 in 2006. This represents an improvement in the analysis but leads to a commensurate increase in the number of properties in each risk band

Flood Control: Finance

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 6 March 2007,  Official Report, columns 1824-5W, on flood control: finance, who decided that only certain development studies and coastal monitoring projects would receive new funding.

Ian Pearson: My letters of 20 December to the Environment Agency, Local Government Association and Association of Drainage Authorities explained that funding for new capital improvement projects and related studies in 2007-08 was severely constrained by the high level of funding commitment to ongoing projects but that I had decided to allocate £2.1 million to fund a review of Shoreline Management Plans, development of strategy plans, and coastal monitoring and other essential studies to allow strategic planning for the investment programme to be strengthened. Total funding from DEFRA to the operating authorities for flood risk management in 2007-08 will be £457 million, excluding spend on coast protection. The letters are published on the DEFRA website and copies have been placed in the Library of the House.

Institute for Public Policy Research

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what funding  (a) his Department and  (b) its predecessor provided to (i) the IPPR and (ii) IPPR Trading Ltd. in each year since May 1997; and for what purpose funding was provided.

Barry Gardiner: DEFRA came into being in June 2001. From information held centrally, payments to the IPPR are as follows; we do not have a breakdown of funding between IPPR and IPPR Trading Ltd.:
	
		
			  Financial year  Total (£) 
			 2001-02 0 
			 2002-03 352.50 
			 2003-04 1,515.75 
			 2004-05 58.75 
			 2005-06 (1)61,375.14 
			 2006-07(2) (3)18,458.29 
			 (1 )Includes £51,898 to meet the costs of a secondee from IPPR to Defra. (2 )April to December. (3) Includes £11,408 to meet the costs of a secondee from IPPR to Defra. 
		
	
	Payments have been for advice on energy, climate and environmental strategy, including environmental pollution; business and strategy; business and transport; business and consumers together with a joint public seminar with DEFRA on India's sustainability challenge.

Land Drainage

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what  (a) strategy and  (b) funding the Government have put in place for integrated drainage plans in urban areas (i) to address the risks of sewer flooding and (ii) to increase the storm capacity of drainage systems; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: In January 2007, as part of DEFRA's new strategy on flood management (known as "Making space for water"), I announced the start of 15 integrated urban drainage pilot studies around the country. Further details can be found at http://www.defra.gov.uk/environ/fcd/policy/strategy/ha2.htm The projects, made possible by £1.7 million of funding from DEFRA, will test new approaches to reduce the risk of urban drainage flooding, both from sewers and stormwater.
	While the pilot projects will not directly fund capital improvements, they should bring greater clarity on responsibilities for funding urban drainage management between water companies, local authorities, the Environment Agency, Internal Drainage Boards and the Highways Agency. Following completion of the pilot projects in spring 2008, DEFRA will produce new guidance on effective partnership working to deliver integrated drainage solutions in high risk urban catchments and prepare a regulatory impact assessment for any proposed legislative changes.
	For 2005-10, Ofwat has allowed water and sewerage companies a programme of nearly £1 billion to safeguard homes against the risk of sewer flooding. This would resolve or mitigate every known high risk problem of internal flooding from overloaded sewers where companies' plans said action is needed by 2010.

Livestock: Transport

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when Article 36 of the Treaty of Rome was last invoked for the export of live animals.

Ben Bradshaw: holding answer 15 March 2007
	I assume that the question refers to Article 30 of the Treaty of Rome, which was Article 36 prior to the current Treaty.
	I am aware of two rulings by the European Court of Justice in cases relating to the export of live animals in which Article 30 (then Article 36) was invoked. Case C-5/1994, ruled on 23 May 1996, relates to a UK ban on exporting sheep to Spain because of concerns over welfare conditions in Spanish abattoirs. Case C-1/1996, ruled on 15 July 1997, was a case brought by Compassion in World Farming on banning the export of calves destined for veal crates. In both cases, the European Court of Justice made clear that a European Union member state may not ban or limit a trade if it is subject to harmonised rules that must be complied with equally by all member states.

Veterinary Medicine

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what veterinary uses are permitted for  (a) kanamycin and  (b) neomycin; and how much of each medicine was used in the UK in each of the last five years.

Ben Bradshaw: There have been no veterinary pharmaceutical products authorised for sale on the UK market in the last five years that include kanamycin.
	Neomycin is present as an active substance with antimicrobial activity in a number of veterinary medicinal products with several routes of administration including topical, oral and injectable. It is a broad spectrum antibiotic active against a number of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria.
	The following table details how much neomycin was sold for veterinary use on an annual basis in the UK, for the last five years for which data are available.
	
		
			   Tonnes of Neomycin active ingredient sold  Number of products included 
			 2001 5.18 17 
			 2002 5.22 20 
			 2003 3.45 18 
			 2004 4.51 15 
			 2005 4.92 9

Wastes: Nuisance

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent estimate he has made of the annual clean-up and repair costs imposed on  (a) local authorities and  (b) businesses in respect of (i) litter, (ii) dog fouling, (iii) graffiti, (iv) fly-posting, (v) noise and (vi) fly-tipping in each of the last 10 years; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: Local authorities do not have a duty to clear fly-posting or graffiti. We do not therefore collect data on clear-up costs to local authorities or to businesses for these or for noise. Street cleansing costs (which include both litter and dog fouling) have been maintained for the last five years, and are shown in the following table(1).
	(1) It should be noted that comparisons across years may not be valid due to changes in the method of reporting the information.
	
		
			  Total England net current data for street cleansing (not chargeable to highways) 
			   Amount (£000) 
			 2001-02 434,366 
			 2002-03 476,592 
			 2003-04 538,542 
			 2004-05 594,643 
			 2005-06 629,930 
			  Source: Communities and Local Government Revenue Outturn (RO)  returns. 
		
	
	Flycapture, the national database of fly-tipping incidents, was set up in 2004 by DEFRA, the Environment Agency and the Local Government Association, to record fly-tipping incidents dealt with by the Environment Agency and local authorities. Data on fly-tipping levels and estimated clean-up costs are therefore only available from April 2004 onwards.
	The cost of clearing illegally dumped waste reported by local authorities between April 2004 and March 2005 was over £44 million. For the period between April 2005 and March 2006, the cost was almost £50 million.
	DEFRA does not hold data on the clear-up costs of fly-tipping to businesses. However, when the costs of clearance on private land are included, the 2005-06 clearance costs are estimated to rise to over £100 million.

Water Treatment: Reed Beds

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what discussions he has had with  (a) Water UK,  (b) water companies and  (c) the Environment Agency on the use of reed-based technology.

Ian Pearson: DEFRA recognises that reed beds can usefully form part of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS) and part of the process for treating foul sewage.
	DEFRA is working closely with Communities and Local Government (CLG) in the development of surface water management planning as part of revised Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 25. The production of surface water management plans is being trialled by some of the partnerships within DEFRA's Integrated Urban Drainage Pilot Projects. The 15 pilots across England, made possible by £1.7 million of funding from DEFRA, will test new approaches to reduce the risk of urban drainage flooding.
	DEFRA is a key member of the National SUDS Working Group (NSWG), of which representatives of water companies, Water UK, the Local Government Association, the Environment Agency, developers and other organisations such as CABE are also members. DEFRA has a current work stream to examine options for resolving the combined issue of SUDS adoption, maintenance and funding and has recently consulted with the NSWG on this matter. We expect to carry out wider consultation in this regard later this year.
	In respect of foul sewage treatment, the owner/operator of a sewage treatment plant is required to comply with the relevant discharge consent. The appropriate process and techniques for achieving compliance vary from location to location and are essentially decided by the owner/operator of the treatment works. Reed beds are acknowledged to be a suitable technology and are used in many situations, including at works managed by water companies (instead of, or in addition to other processes). As we look at making development more sustainable, by reducing carbon inputs, reed beds may be one of the techniques that facilitate this.

Whales: Conservation

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's policy is on fish imports from  (a) Norway and  (b) Iceland; and what account was taken of those countries' policies on whaling in formulating this policy.

Ben Bradshaw: Fisheries agreements with third countries, including those on imports, are negotiated by the European Commission on behalf of all member sates. Neither the Council of Ministers nor the Commission exercises Community competence over whaling issues and there is no common EU line on whaling matters. Not all EU member states are even members of the International Whaling Commission. As such, negotiations with third countries on fisheries and trade matters are unaffected by those countries' stance on whaling. While the European Commission joined the recent demarche against Iceland over its resumption of commercial whaling, it did so on its own behalf, rather than on behalf of member states.

Whales: Conservation

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will write to EU member states asking them to join the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in sufficient time to enable them to be eligible for voting rights at this year's IWC meeting in May.

Ben Bradshaw: My right, hon. Friends the Secretary of State and the Foreign Secretary have recently jointly written to a dozen EU and Accession States encouraging them to join the International Whaling Commission. A new publication, 'Protecting Whales —A Global Responsibility', endorsed by the Prime Minister and Sir David Attenborough has also been sent to these countries encouraging them to join the effort to protect all cetacean species. UK embassies and Ministers across Government will continue to lobby on this issue in the run-up to the next annual meeting of the IWC in Alaska in May. However, not all of those who are willing to join the IWC will be able to complete the necessary parliamentary processes in time to secure voting rights at the 2007 meeting.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Afghanistan: Drugs

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what support is being given to revitalise the Afghan economy as part of the UK's counter-narcotics strategy in Afghanistan.

Hilary Benn: I have been asked to reply.
	The UK is spending £270 million over three years to support the Government of Afghanistan's (GoA) National Drug Control Strategy. We have helped the GoA create a Counter Narcotics Trust Fund to mobilise international donor support and develop Afghan counter narcotics planning and capacity. DFID plays a key role by promoting alternative, legal livelihoods to help revitalise the Afghan economy. Legal livelihoods can be regulated and taxed by the government, and form the basis for long-term, sustainable economic growth. DFID's Livelihoods Programme, worth nearly £150 million between 2006-09, is supporting GoA National Priority Programmes to develop legal livelihood opportunities as alternatives to poppy farming. Examples include our £18 million support for the National Rural Access Programme (NRAP) and our £20 million contribution over three years to the Micro-finance Investment Support Facility of Afghanistan (MISFA). NRAP has built essential infrastructure such as roads, bridges and irrigation schemes, and has generated over 15 million days of labour for Afghans. MISFA has so far provided small loans to over 230,000 Afghan families. This has enabled poor people who would otherwise not have access to credit to successfully invest in income-generating activities.
	DFID is also contributing £9 million to the GoA to help boost legal private sector activity by reducing red tape and improving the business environment, and supporting the mining sector and encouraging foreign investment. Of this, £1 million has been channelled through a World Bank-managed Trust Fund which provides risk guarantees to attract foreign investors. In the past year, this Trust Fund has supported three projects which are expected to trigger over $26 million of investment, stimulate the cotton and pharmaceutical sector, and expand access to credit. This will help to further enhance private sector opportunities and revitalise the legal Afghan economy.

Afghanistan: Drugs

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many alternative livelihoods projects have been established in Helmand Province; and if she will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: I have been asked to reply.
	DFID has helped to establish a range of alternative livelihoods projects in Helmand. We are providing £30 million over three years to the Helmand Agriculture and Rural Development Programme (HARDP), from 2006 to 2009. This programme is increasing alternative livelihood opportunities for the rural poor of Helmand by supporting the Government of Afghanistan's implementation of its National Priority Programmes. These include the National Solidarity Programme, National Rural Access Programme, Micro-Finance Investment and Support Facility in Afghanistan, and Water and Sanitation Programme. They are providing longer-term improvements in water and sanitation, essential small-scale rural infrastructure, and access to small loans, as well as improved roads, access to markets, agricultural inputs and training.
	DFID is also funding the £3 million Research into Alternative Livelihoods Fund (RALF). This supports work on alternative livelihoods in Helmand, for example through the Restorative Agriculture and Rural Economy Research Project, which explores the export feasibility of numerous crops including grapes, tomatoes, mushrooms, eggplants and okra. The project is evaluating different small-scale agri-processing industries, and producing case studies of value-added alternative livelihood options, for example tomato paste.
	We are funding 114 Quick Impact Projects (QIPs) in Helmand. These are not all alternative livelihoods projects, but they do support a range of income-generating activities for poor people. These include furniture-making, construction, carpet-weaving and the provision of tractors for farming.

Project Al Yamamah

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been received by her Department on the Al Yamamah military contract since the announcement that the Serious Fraud Office was ending its investigation into the contract.
	 Question number missing in Hansard, possibly truncated question.

Kim Howells: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary to my right hon. Friend the Member for Leicester, East (Keith Vaz) on 26 February,  Official Report, column 1138W.

Turkmenistan

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with representatives of the Government of Turkmenistan following the election of Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.

Geoff Hoon: Our ambassador, and other EU ambassadors resident in Ashgabat, met the Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan, Rashid Meredov, on 15 February.
	Also on 15 February, the EU special representative for Central Asia, Pierre Morel, met President Berdymukhamedov. The talks focussed on possible future co-operation between the EU and Turkmenistan on the areas of reform announced by President Berdymukhamedov during his inauguration speech, including healthcare, education and agriculture.

Turkmenistan

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with independent observers of the presidential election in Turkmenistan held on 11 February 2007.

Geoff Hoon: The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights sent a technical assistance team to Turkmenistan for the presidential election. The UN also visited Turkmenistan in the period of the presidential election and discussed possible electoral reform with the Turkmen authorities. However, neither sent an observation mission to the presidential election in Turkmenistan on 11 February.

Turkmenistan

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions  (a) she and  (b) her Ministerial colleagues have had with (i) EU counterparts and (ii) other governments in the region of Turkmenistan, following the election of Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.

Geoff Hoon: We are working closely with our EU partners on how the EU can best support and assist the Government of Turkmenistan to implement democratic and human rights reforms following the presidential election on 11 February.
	The EU Special Representative for Central Asia, Pierre Morel, met President Berdymukhamedov on 15 February and later that day saw the Foreign Minister, Rashid Meredov, with EU Ambassadors. The EU stands ready to co-operate with the Government of Turkmenistan to help support the implementation of the government's reform programme, particularly in the areas of rule of law and social development, agriculture, economy, education and the environment. An EU-Turkmenistan Seminar on Social and Human Development will take place in April. This will also involve other international organisations and UN agencies.
	Our Ambassadors in the region discuss regional and country specific issues with their host foreign ministries on a regular basis.

Turkmenistan

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions  (a) she and  (b) her Ministerial colleagues have had with the UN Human Rights Council on proposed visits to Turkmenistan following the election of Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov.

Geoff Hoon: We very much welcome the suggestion that the UN Commissioner for Human Rights and the Rapporteur on Religious Freedom visit Turkmenistan. However, to date, we have had no direct discussions in the UN Human Rights Council on this issue. The timing and agenda for such visits depends on the Government of Turkmenistan.

Turkmenistan

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions  (a) she and  (b) her Ministerial colleagues have had with representatives of the government of Turkmenistan on travel restrictions and the imprisonment of dissidents.

Geoff Hoon: There have been no recent discussions with the Government of Turkmenistan specifically on travel restrictions or the imprisonment of dissidents. However, during his latest visit to Turkmenistan, the EU Special Representative for Central Asia, Pierre Morel, raised the issue of human rights. Our Ambassador in Ashgabat also raises the issue of human rights at every appropriate opportunity and the Embassy continues to follow developments in this area, supporting individual cases.

Turkmenistan

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the implications of the election of Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov for relations between the UK and Turkmenistan.

Geoff Hoon: Following the election of President Berdymukhamedov, there have been welcome signs of a new commitment to reform in Turkmenistan. The UK stands ready to work closely with our EU and international partners to support and encourage this reform, particularly in the areas of rule of law and social development, agriculture, economy, education and the environment. An EU-Turkmenistan seminar on social and human development is planned to take place in April. With possible forthcoming visits from the UN Commissioner on Human Rights and the Rapporteur on Religious Freedom, there is potential for closer relations in a number of areas than in the past.

Uzbekistan

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with representatives of the Uzbek government on the imprisonment of Umida Niyazova, Mutabar Tadjibaeva and Gulbakhor Turaeva; and if she will make a statement.

Geoff Hoon: We remain concerned by the arrests of Umida Niyazova and Gulbakhor Turaeva. Our Embassy in Tashkent is following their situation closely, remaining in touch with human rights groups and Niyazova's lawyer. Our Ambassador raised both cases with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 2 February. The German Embassy, as EU Presidency, has registered with the Uzbek authorities the EU's concern at the detention of both women, in Note Verbales on 13 and 20 February.
	We have followed the case of Mutabar Tadjibaeva closely since her arrest in 2005. Our Embassy was present at her trial. We are working closely with human rights groups in touch with her family. We are concerned at reports that her relatives have been refused access to her. We regularly raise Tadjibaeva's case with the Uzbek authorities, bilaterally and through the EU.

Uzbekistan

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions  (a) she and  (b) her ministerial colleagues have had with representatives of the German government on Uzbekistan.

Geoff Hoon: We discuss Uzbekistan with the German Government regularly. Most recently, the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council discussed Uzbekistan on 5 March.
	Our ambassador in Tashkent is also in regular contact with his German and other EU colleagues. Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials also maintain a regular dialogue with German officials on Uzbekistan, in London, Berlin and Brussels.

Uzbekistan

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions  (a) she and  (b) her ministerial colleagues have had with representatives of other Governments in Central Asia on Uzbekistan.

Geoff Hoon: I discussed Uzbekistan with the Kazakh Foreign Minister during my visit to Kazakhstan in September 2006. Our ambassadors in Central Asia discuss regional and country specific issues with their host foreign ministries on a regular basis.

Uzbekistan

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if she will make a statement on the human rights situation in Uzbekistan.

Geoff Hoon: The human rights situation remains a cause for concern. The situation has deteriorated further since November 2006. There have been more arrests of respected human rights defenders, including Umida Niyazova, who worked as an interpreter for Human Rights Watch in Tashkent. The International Committee of the Red Cross have not yet been able to visit prisons, despite apparently reaching agreement with the Uzbeks in November 2006. The Uzbek authorities continue to deny access to, and information on, the whereabouts of individuals of concern to the EU, for example Zainabiddinov and Tadjibaeva. More foreign non-governmental organizations in Tashkent, such as World Vision, are facing threats of eviction from the country.

Zimbabwe

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with her counterpart in South Africa on the arrest and detention of Morgan Tsvangirai by security forces in Zimbabwe on 11 March 2007; and if she will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: I raised in strong terms our concerns at the UN Human Rights Council on 13 March. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary spoke on 15 March to her South African counterpart about the worsening situation in Zimbabwe. We will continue to press South Africa and other African states to put pressure on Mugabe to allow peaceful protests to occur and to engage with the democratic opposition and civil society to bring about a resolution to Zimbabwe's problems.
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has already made a statement publicly recording her condemnation of the shooting, arrest and beatings of protestors in Harare on 11 March.

Zimbabwe: Human Rights

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans she has to discuss recent human rights abuses in Zimbabwe with EU member governments; and if she will make a statement.

Ian McCartney: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed Zimbabwe with the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Carl Bildt, on 15 March and it will be a subject for discussion with the Spanish Foreign Minister on 19 March. I raised in strong terms our concerns at the UN Human Rights Council on 13 March. We believe that the EU should show its abhorrence of state-sponsored violence on 11 March by adding key perpetrators to the EU's visa ban list. The EU will also engage southern African governments on the issue, following the visit by President Kikwete of Tanzania to Zimbabwe on 15 March.

Zimbabwe: Politics and Government

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports she has received of the treatment in detention of Morgan Tsvangirai, Arthur Mutambara and other democracy activists in Zimbabwe.

Ian McCartney: From their injuries, it is clear to all that Morgan Tsvangirai and others who were detained on 11 March were subjected to treatment of the most barbaric kind. This demonstrates Mugabe and his government's total disregard for international law and the depths to which they are prepared to sink to silence their democratic opponents.

Zimbabwe: Politics and Government

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has had with her counterparts in  (a) the United States,  (b) China,  (c) the Russian Federation and  (d) France on the Zimbabwean Government's recent treatment of democracy activists at a prayer meeting in Harare.

Ian McCartney: We remain in close contact with all permanent members of the UN Security Council and encourage the UN to remain focussed on all aspects of the worsening situation in Zimbabwe. We welcomed the clear statements from the UN Secretary-General and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights condemning the recent arrests and beatings.

Zimbabwe: Politics and Government

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports she has received of violence toward democracy activists detained by the Government of Zimbabwe following a prayer meeting in Harare; and what representations she has made to  (a) her counterparts in the European Union,  (b) the EU External Affairs Commissioner and  (c) her counterparts in South Africa on the issue.

Ian McCartney: Our embassy in Harare is keeping us informed of events in Zimbabwe. Both my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Triesman of Tottenham, have made statements expressing our deep condemnation of what has happened there in recent days. I raised in strong terms our concerns at the UN Human Rights Council on 13 March. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary discussed Zimbabwe with Nksozana Dlamini-Zuma and Carl Bildt on 15 March. We are in close contact with other EU countries and continue to discuss what needs to happen to relieve the terrible economic and humanitarian crisis facing its people.

Zimbabwe: Politics and Government

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate she has made of the number killed or seriously wounded in the recent incident at the prayer meeting at Highfield in Harare.

Ian McCartney: Reports indicate that one movement for democratic change activist named Gift Tandare was shot and killed at the save Zimbabwe campaign prayer meeting on 11 March. Many others were wounded, some very seriously. 12 of those arrested and most seriously beaten both on and after arrest, including Morgan Tsvangirai, are still recovering in hospital. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has condemned the shooting, arrest and beatings of those who were protesting peacefully.

Zimbabwe: Politics and Government

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions she has held with the British Ambassador to Harare on violence and intimidation towards democracy activists detained in Zimbabwe.

Ian McCartney: Our ambassador in Harare and officials from the embassy are closely following events on the ground, talking to those who were involved and reporting back on developments. At this critical time in Zimbabwe, their accurate and timely reporting is absolutely crucial.

Zimbabwe: Judiciary

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment she has made of the impartiality of the judiciary in Zimbabwe.

Ian McCartney: Against the background of Zimbabwe's deepening economic and humanitarian crisis, we are increasingly concerned at the capacity of the Zimbabwean judiciary to maintain its quality of service and to resist increasing, overt political pressure. Only last month, a senior judge in Zimbabwe voiced her concerns in this regard and there are already strains beginning to show in the magistrates courts.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he intends to deploy Challenger tanks in Afghanistan.

Des Browne: There are no plans to send Challenger tanks to Afghanistan at present.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many  (a) suicide and  (b) improvised explosive device attacks against NATO forces in Afghanistan were recorded in (i) 2005 and (ii) 2006.

Adam Ingram: The number of attacks in Afghanistan has increased significantly from 2005 to 2006. It is estimated that, in 2005, there were approximately 500 improvised explosive device (IED) attacks, of which approximately 25 were suicide IED attacks. In 2006, it is assessed that there were approximately 1,525 IED attacks, of which approximately 150 were suicide IED attacks. These figures do not necessarily represent the complete statistics but are an estimate. The majority of attacks are against International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) troops or Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF); however, it is not always possible to define the specific target in any given incident.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of the total numbers of troops available to the International Security Assistance Force from  (a) the United States,  (b) Germany,  (c) France and  (d) the UK are serving in Afghanistan.

Des Browne: Of the total international security assistance force of around 35,500 troops, provided by the United States, Germany, France and the UK, the approximate percentages are as follows:
	
		
			   Percentage 
			 US 39 
			 Germany 8 
			 France 3 
			 UK 15 
		
	
	The UK contribution will increase to approximately 21 per cent. once the force enhancements announced on 26 February have deployed fully.

Armed Forces: Prosecutions

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of the Army legal service are investigating legal cases related to operations in  (a) Iraq and  (b) Afghanistan.

Adam Ingram: The Army legal services branch of the Adjutant General's Corps (ALS) does not investigate cases, this is the role of the Royal Military Police (RMP). The role of ALS is threefold: the provision of advice to the chain of command on, inter alia, disciplinary matters; the provision of a prosecuting authority for the Army; and the provision of a legal advice service for servicemen and their families stationed overseas.
	At this time ALS has two officers serving in Iraq providing advice to the chain of command on disciplinary matters and one officer in Afghanistan providing legal assistance to soldiers deployed in theatre. Four officers from the Army Prosecuting Authority (APA) have cases in their current caseload related to operations in Afghanistan and Iraq: one case is related to operations in Afghanistan and three are related to operations in Iraq.

Armed Forces: Training

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the long-term effects of physical training on the joints of servicemen are better understood; and if he will make a statement.

Derek Twigg: UK service personnel will characteristically take part in a wide range of physical activities during the course of their service. These will include not only supervised activities related to their training, but also many unsupervised physical activities, physical training and sport undertaken at their own volition. For this reason, it is often not possible to attribute with confidence a specific chronic overuse injury to any single, supervised, physical training activity.
	However, the nature and occurrence of the most common lower limb injuries (LLI) have formed the focus for many research papers, and LLI have been shown to be common to military populations throughout NATO. When all factors have been considered, the single most commonly-cited physical activity during which the majority of overuse lower limb injuries have been reported is running.
	MOD undertakes research to understand the underlying factors which may explain the relatively high incidence (compared with age and gender-matched, non-military populations) of LLIs among service personnel. Research has been conducted (both by the UK and throughout NATO) on a regular basis since the 1970s. Recent research funded by MOD's Human Capability scientific research programme has included studies of the pathogenesis of stress fractures; bone health; musculoskeletal injuries; and a Physical Training shoe project.

Ballistic Missile Defence: USA

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether a decision on the deployment in the UK of US missiles for the US Missile Defense system will require the approval of Parliament.

Des Browne: There has been no request from the United States Government to base interceptor missiles anywhere in the United Kingdom. It has not been the practice of successive administrations to seek parliamentary approval for decisions of this type. The Government would in any case seek to ensure that Parliament had adequate opportunity for debate on issues relating to missile defence.

Ballistic Missile Defence: USA

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has held with  (a) ministerial colleagues and  (b) the United States on the UK hosting US interceptor missiles for the US missile defense system; and what the date was of the (i) first such discussion and (ii) most recent such discussion.

Des Browne: The UK regularly discusses with the US our contribution to their missile defense system. Discussions on possible additional support are at a early stage. There has been no request from the US Government to base missile interceptors anywhere in the UK. It is not the practice of the Government to make public details of all discussions with foreign Governments as this would, or would be likely to, prejudice international relations.

Diego Garcia: USA

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is on the use of Diego Garcia by the US for offensive purposes.

Des Browne: The UK's policy on the use of Diego Garcia by the US is based on the 1966 exchange of notes (updated in 1976 and with subsequent amendments and additions). The notes allow the US to use the base as a forward operating location for aircraft and ships and require the US to seek prior approval for any operations that they wish to undertake from Diego Garcia.

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the use by hostile forces of surface to air missiles in Iraq.

Des Browne: All threats to UK forces in Iraq are kept under constant review. This includes the threat posed by surface to air missiles. I am withholding further details as it would, or would be likely to, prejudice the capability, effectiveness and security of our armed forces.

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on the Iranian  (a) personnel,  (b) explosives and  (c) expertise being used in Iraq.

Des Browne: I hold regular discussions with the US Defense Secretary on issues of mutual interest, including the situation in Iraq.
	Iran is an influential neighbour in the region and its behaviour continues to be a cause for concern. We and the US continually assess the nature of insurgency in Iraq including the influence of outside groups.
	Support from within Iran, including the Quds Force, goes to groups who are attacking our forces and fuels the sectarian violence in Iraq. In our assessment some of the improvised explosive devices that are being used against our forces use technology that originates from Iran.
	Iranian links to illegal armed groups either through supply of weapons, training or funding, are completely unacceptable. We have said so and so have the Iraqi Government.

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost was of the  (a) defence teams,  (b) prosecution teams and  (c) other costs related to the court martial in (i) the prosecution of the seven paratroopers for alleged crimes in Iraq in November 2005 and (ii) the prosecution of the four guardsmen for alleged crimes in Iraq in June 2006.

Adam Ingram: The costs requested were:
	
		
			   3 Para Trial  IG Trial 
			 Defence costs £3.04m £1.283m 
			 Prosecution costs £0.254m £0.193m 
			 Other costs £0.511m £0.210m 
			 Total £3.813m £1.686m

Mail Services

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will authorise the continuation of the free mail and parcel service to troops in  (a) Iraq and  (b) Afghanistan.

Des Browne: A free packet scheme was first introduced on 17 April 2003, as a temporary measure unique to Iraq, at a time when service personnel did not have access to the welfare facilities that are now available in both Iraq and Afghanistan. A decision was taken to end the scheme on 8 April 2004 when the provision of goods and services in Iraq reached the required standard. These include welfare telephones (30 minutes free calls per person per week to anywhere in the world); unlimited free letter mail and electronic letters (where available); free e-mail and internet access; newspapers, magazines, books and board games; fitness equipment; and shopping facilities provided by the Expeditionary Forces Institute. The Department recognises that relatives will wish to send Christmas presents to those in operational theatres and a pre-Christmas free-packet scheme has therefore been a standard element of the Operational Welfare Package since 2005.
	Operational welfare is a high priority for the Department and we have looked at extending the free packet scheme to become a permanent feature to all operational theatres where UK service personnel are deployed, but personnel on the ground stated a preference for improvements to welfare telephone and internet provision above free mail. On 10 October 2006, we announced improvements to the telephone and internet services, increasing the number of free telephone minutes from 20 to 30 per week.

Members: Correspondence

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to answer the letter of 24 January from the hon. Member for Gosport on Selly Oak hospital in Birmingham.

Derek Twigg: I wrote to the hon. Member on 19 March 2007.

Red Arrows

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent progress he has made on basing options for the Red Arrows.

Adam Ingram: Work continues to identify the optimum basing solution for the Red Arrows, taking into account the team's operational requirements and the costs involved. No decision has yet been taken.

Security Guards

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contracts were awarded by his Department to private military security companies for work in  (a) Iraq,  (b) Afghanistan and  (c) other countries in each of the last five years; what was the (i) value and (ii) purpose of each such contract; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: For information on contracts let in Iraq I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Derek Conway) on 5 March 2007,  Official Report, column 1657W.
	For the purposes of this response I have taken the question to refer to armed security contracts overseas. One contract was awarded by the MOD in Afghanistan in financial year 2006-07, with a value of approximately £35,000. The contract was for the provision of security for UK civilian advisors to the Afghan MOD.
	No other contracts of this type have been awarded in the last five years.

Selly Oak Hospital

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence who is in command of the military medical staff attached to the NHS Selly Oak hospital; and at what rank.

Derek Twigg: The commanding officer of the NHS Selly Oak hospital is Air Commodore Anthony Batchelor CBE Bsc. MBBS FRCP FFOM DAvMed FRAes RAF and was appointed in August 2004.

Selly Oak Hospital

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military medical staff are attached to the NHS Selly Oak hospital, broken down by rank; and what duties they are allocated.

Derek Twigg: The information is not held in the format requested.
	The details of the 156 military staff attached to Selly Oak hospital is currently being collated. I will write to the hon. Member when this is complete.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Casino Advisory Panel

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what research the Casino Advisory Panel  (a) commissioned and  (b) evaluated to estimate the likely earnings for regional casinos.

Richard Caborn: holding answer 15 March 2007
	None. However, the panel asked shortlisted local authorities what estimates they had made as to the likely profits of a casino in their area, insofar as it was relevant to the viability, likelihood of implementation and the likely regeneration benefits.

Casino Advisory Panel

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she made of the experience at a strategic and senior level in the regeneration of disadvantaged areas of the members of the Casino Advisory Panel before recommending their appointment.

Richard Caborn: The Casino Advisory Panel was appointed in accordance with Nolan principles following an open competition. The independent interview panel which was responsible for the appointments process was satisfied that five individuals they recommended for appointment would mean that the panel would have available to it the required senior, strategic level experience in the areas specified in the person specification, including in the regeneration of disadvantaged areas.
	Biographical details of the five individuals selected to become the chair and members of the panel were included in the press release, issued on 30 September 2005, which announced the establishment of the Panel.

Casino Advisory Panel

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the contribution of the Casino Advisory Panel's interpretation of social impact to the overall object of the Gambling Act 2005 on reducing problem gambling.

Richard Caborn: None. The Casino Advisory Panel was asked to identify a range of areas for the one regional, eight large and eight small casinos permitted by the Gambling Act 2005 which would provide the best possible test of social impact. The panel's interpretation of this criterion, and its assessment of how each of the proposals before it rated against this criterion, is set out in the panel's report. The Government are satisfied that the panel has taken its terms of reference seriously and applied them in a balanced and consistent way.
	All existing casinos, and any new casino that opens, will be subject to the stringent new safeguards we are introducing to ensure that the risk of problem gambling is minimised, in line with the overall objectives of the Gambling Act 2005.

Casinos

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 5 February 2007,  Official Report, column 707W, on casinos, what factors were taken into account when deciding to commission Lancaster University to advise on the methodology for the assessment of social and economic impact of the new casinos; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: Lancaster university was commissioned to advise on the methodology for the assessment of the social and economic impact of the new casinos following an open tender process. I am arranging for a copy of the invitation to tender to be placed in the House Libraries.

Casinos

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what revisions her Department has made to the national policy statement on casinos published in December 2004 after the reduction of the regional casino licence number to one during the passage of the Gambling Act in March 2005.

Richard Caborn: One change has been made since April 2005.
	Paragraph 24 of the national policy statement suggests that existing casinos would retain their current gaming machine entitlement of 10 machines. This entitlement was doubled to 20 from 1 October 2005, following a commitment made in Parliament by Lord McIntosh during the passage of the Gambling Bill, on 6 April 2005, House of Lords,  Official Report, column 837.

Casinos

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what discussions her Department held with the Gambling Commission on the implications of using a test of social impact for awarding a regional casino licence for the progress towards the objective of controlling problem gambling.

Richard Caborn: None. The Government published the criteria they proposed to use for selecting the areas where the new categories casinos permitted by the Gambling Act 2005 would be located in their national statement of policy published on 16 December 2004. The Gambling Commission came into being on 1 October 2005.

Conservation Officers: Training

Edward Vaizey: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what training her Department provides for local authority conservation officers.

David Lammy: My Department does not provide training for local authority conservation officers. However, English Heritage offers a range of developmental opportunities for conservation officers and other historic environment professionals.
	These include training organised through the Historic Environment Local Management (HELM) project, and through the Oxford University Department of Continuing Education Professional Training in the Historic Environment programme.
	English Heritage also works closely with the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC). A recently completed English Heritage/IHBC survey of conservation officers in England will help to identify their training needs, and in turn inform future training provision.

Departments: Advertising

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what her Department's total spending was on advertising and promotional campaigns in each year since 1997; and what the cost of each campaign was, broken down by costs relating to  (a) television,  (b) radio and  (c) print media.

David Lammy: The Department had a zero spend on advertising and promotional campaigns between 1997 and 2002. Expenditure in subsequent years is set out as follows:
	
		
			   Campaign  Spend (£) 
			 2003-04 BBC Charter (Press advertising) 20,987 
			
			 2004-05 BBC Charter (Radio advertising) 37,085 
			
			 2004-05 Digital Switchover (PR) 170,000 
			
			 2005-06 Digital Switchover (PR) 320,000 
			
			 2005-06 Licensing Communications broken down as: 139,578 
			  PR 70,000 
			  Direct mail 18,550 
			  Press advertising 51,028 
			
			 2006-07 Tourism Consultation broken down as: 12,868 
			  Press advertising 4,903 
			  Direct mail 7,965 
			 2006-07 Digital Switchover (PR) 90,880

Film: Archives

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when she expects the national plan for regional film archives to be published.

Shaun Woodward: The UK Film Council is working with the British Film Institute (BFI) and key stakeholders to develop a national film archive strategy and business plan. It is expected that this strategy for the BFI national archive and the eight regional film archives will be published on May 31 2007.

Gambling: Misuse

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment her Department has made of the effects of problem gambling; what estimate she has made of the numbers of problem gamblers; and what reports her Department has produced on problem gambling.

Richard Caborn: The current estimate is that 0.6 per cent. of the adult population of Great Britain are problem gamblers. This figure is drawn from 'Gambling Behaviour in Britain: Results from the British Gambling Prevalence Study' (National Centre for Social Research, June 2000).
	The Gambling Commission is conducting a further prevalence study and will report in autumn 2007.

Licensed Premises: Tamworth

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many licensed premises there are in Tamworth constituency and how many of these are  (a) public houses,  (b) clubs,  (c) supermarkets and  (d) off-licences.

Shaun Woodward: This information is not held centrally.

Olympic Games: Greater London

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will break down the funding allocated to  (a) English Institute of Sport (EIS) services,  (b) sports science and  (c) sports medicine services for each Summer Olympic sport within their World Class Reference Pathway Funding through to 2009 as referred to in the answer of 29 June 2006,  Official Report, columns 569-70W, on the Olympics.

Richard Caborn: As part of the investment model, UK Sport is providing lottery funding of £10.5 million to the EIS for this and for each of the next two financial years. In addition, UK Sport has confirmed to Summer Olympic sports a guideline figure to be spent on sports science and sports medicine (SS/SM) services. The guideline figure provided to each sport is shown in the following table. It is up to the individual sport in conjunction with UK Sport to agree the exact amount invested into SS/SM services. It is important to recognise that sports can purchase additional SS/SM services at any time and therefore there is no cut-off point when a sport will stop purchasing extra support.
	
		
			  Sport  Guideline figure 2006-09 (£) 
			 Archery 393,000 
			 Athletics 2,809,000 
			 Badminton 1,147,000 
			 Basketball 704,000 
			 Boxing 781,000 
			 Canoeing 1,801,000 
			 Cycling 2,890,000 
			 Diving 753,000 
			 Equestrian 1,606,000 
			 Fencing 448,000 
			 Gymnastics 1,215,000 
			 Handball 528,000 
			 Hockey 1,520,000 
			 Judo 927,000 
			 Modern Pentathlon 786,000 
			 Rowing 3,335,000 
			 Sailing 2,887,000 
			 Shooting 790,000 
			 Swimming 2,476,000 
			 Synchronised Swimming 285,000 
			 Table Tennis 378,000 
			 Taekwondo 389,000 
			 Triathlon 661,000 
			 Volleyball 704,000 
			 Water Polo 564,000 
			 Weightlifting 239,000 
			 Wrestling 318,000 
			 Total 31,334,000

Olympic Games: Greater London

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what plans she has for the use of the shooting ranges' site at Woolwich following the 2012 London Olympics; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Caborn: The Olympic Delivery Authority, the body responsible for constructing Games facilities, and the London 2012 Organising Committee venues team, are looking carefully at the post Games use of all proposed facilities being developed for the shooting competitions at Woolwich.
	The Government are working hard with our other London 2012 stakeholders to ensure a lasting legacy for all Olympic and Paralympic sports, including shooting, in terms of facilities, increased exposure and increased participation, for London and the UK as a whole.

Olympic Games: Investment

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to the answer of 5 March 2007,  Official Report, column 1675W, on Olympic Games: investment, if she will break down the figures by Olympic and Paralympic sports; and what the reasons are for the difference from the figure of £215.4 million quoted in UK Sport's Guide to World Class Pathway, Summer Olympic and Paralympic Investment 2006-09.

Richard Caborn: The breakdown of the Olympic and Paralympic investment is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   £ 
			  Olympic  
			 Archery 2,371,000 
			 Athletics 20,377,000 
			 Badminton 6,953,000 
			 Basketball 3,990,000 
			 Boxing 4,660,000 
			 Canoeing 10,789,000 
			 Cycling 17,494,000 
			 Diving 4,586,000 
			 Equestrian 9,618,000 
			 Fencing 2,719,000 
			 Gymnastics 7,253,000 
			 Handball 2,986,000 
			 Hockey 8,573,000 
			 Judo 5,483,000 
			 Modern Pentathlon 4,658,000 
			 Rowing 20,049,000 
			 Sailing 17,194,000 
			 Shooting 4,817,000 
			 Swimming 16,699,000 
			 Synchro Swimming 1,617,000 
			 Table Tennis 2,219,000 
			 Taekwondo 2,284,000 
			 Triathlon 3,897,000 
			 Volleyball 4,040,000 
			 Water Polo 3,133,000 
			 Weightlifting 1,437,000 
			 Wrestling 1,991,000 
			 Total 191,897,000 
			   
			  Paralympic  
			 Archery 1,043,200 
			 Athletics 4,458,400 
			 Basketball—Men 1,897,600 
			 Basketball—Women 201,600 
			 Boccia 573,400 
			 Cycling 1,487,400 
			 Equestrian 1,928,500 
			 Fencing 307,700 
			 Football—CP 99,300 
			 Football—5-a-side 70,900 
			 Goalball—Men 57,500 
			 Goalball—Women 57,500 
			 Judo 607,400 
			 Powerlifting 610,200 
			 Rowing 1,303,900 
			 Sailing 1,074,000 
			 Shooting 501,000 
			 Swimming 5,713,300 
			 Table Tennis 779,300 
			 Volleyball—Men 115,100 
			 Volleyball—Women 115,100 
			 Wheelchair Rugby 822,900 
			 Wheelchair Tennis 669,000 
			 Total 24,494,200 
			 Grand Total 216,391,200 
		
	
	Since the original Pathway Investment figure was quoted, there has been an additional £1 million investment made into Paralympic sport which explains why the latest total is now £216.4 million.
	The reason why there is a difference from the original quoted figure of £215.4 million and the figure of £250.2 million quoted in the answer of 5 March 2007,  Official Report, column 1675W, is due to the fact that the original figure only referred to funding linked directly to the sports. It does not include the total funding allocated to support the Performance Pathway. For example, UK Sport is investing additional resources into the following areas: research and innovation, increased athlete medical support, funding to support the British Paralympic Association and operational costs to support the English Institute of Sport (EIS).

VisitBritain: Standards

Anne Milton: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether her Department has set targets for VisitBritain; and if she will make a statement.

Shaun Woodward: DCMS set targets for VisitBritain on return on grant in aid investment, regional and seasonal spread, and key areas of consumer engagement. These are set out in the Funding Agreement between the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and VisitBritain 2005-06 to 2007-08, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House.

Visual Arts: Sales

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the merits of giving priority to private domestic buyers over foreign institutions open to the public in purchasing artworks proposed for export.

David Lammy: In 1996, the then Secretary of State consulted on whether any specific conditions should be attached to offers to purchase export deferred items made by private buyers. As a result of that consultation, it was decided that an owner's refusal to accept such an offer from a private buyer should lead to an export licence being refused only if the private buyer is able to guarantee reasonable public access and satisfactory conservation conditions for the art work. This remains the position. If an individual refuses an offer where such assurances have been provided, the licence application will normally be refused.

Works of Art: Valuation

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she has taken to ensure that proposed sales and valuations of works of art subject to examination by the Reviewing Committee on the Export of Works of Art are genuine.

David Lammy: When making a decision on whether a valuation is acceptable, I ensure that sufficient information has been provided to justify it. The Reviewing Committee is vigilant in requiring such information and will not recommend a fair matching price unless satisfied it has been properly justified. In a number of cases where the Committee has not been satisfied with the justification for the valuation, it has recommended that I obtain an independent valuation and I have done so.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan: Land

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether the process of the registration of land of all administrative units and the registration of titles was completed for all major urban areas in Afghanistan by the end of 2010 in accordance with the target of the London Compact of 2006; whether he expects the process to have been completed for all other areas by the end of 2008; and what further progress he expects to be made towards these targets by the end of 2007.

Hilary Benn: The Government of Afghanistan has revised its benchmark on land registration and titling, which now reads as follows:
	"a process for registration of land in all administrative units and the registration of land titles will be started for all major urban areas by end-2006 and all other areas by end-2008. A fair system for settlement of land disputes will be in place by end-2007. Registration for rural land will be under way by end-2007".
	The revised end-2006 benchmarks for registration of land and land titles in all urban areas have not been met. However, a number of steps have been taken as follows:
	A white paper on formalisation of informal property rights was prepared and approved by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD). The recommendations made by the White Paper have been updated and incorporated in the draft land policy;
	A property rights certification process has been piloted in two districts of Kabul, prior to the formalisation of land tenure;
	The land register and survey that defines or re-establishes boundaries of public and/or private land for purposes of ownership and taxation is being modernised;
	A Land Information System database has been established in Kabul, in collaboration with key stakeholders;
	The Supreme Court has agreed to simplify the process for property transfer; and
	The property archives in 15 out of 34 provinces have been reorganised and staff have been retrained in document management and security.
	Looking forward, the Government of Afghanistan has committed to approving a comprehensive land policy by April 2007. This will provide guidance on dealing with crucial issues such as land grabbing, informal development, and the allocation and management of land. The Government has also committed to drafting the legislation needed to clarify and then improve the land tenure security of urban residents by April 2007. Finally, the Government has renewed its commitment to reform the system for settlement of land disputes, and improve registration of rural land by the end of 2007.

Departments: Contracts

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what contracts were awarded by his Department to private military security companies for work in  (a) Iraq,  (b) Afghanistan and  (c) other countries in each of the last five years; what the (i) value and (ii) purpose was of each such contract; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: DFID engages private security companies to provide security of our staff in high threat environments. ArmorGroup, Control Risks Group (CRG), and Kroll, have provided mobile security for DFID staff, consultants and static guarding for our compounds in Iraq and Afghanistan.
	Since June 2004, DFID's security needs in Iraq have been met by contracts managed and administered by the FCO. The following costs have been incurred by DFID:
	
		
			   Cost to DFID (£ million) 
			 2003-04 (1)5 
			 2004-05 14.2 
			 2005-06 12.9 
			 2006-07 6.1 
			 Total 38.2 
			 (1) DFID contract. 
		
	
	The Global Conflict Prevention Pool (GCPP) Iraq Strategy also has significant programme spend on police/prison reform—elements of police capacity building programme contracted to ArmorGroup who utilise both CRG and military (escorts) to provide security for their personnel.
	In Afghanistan, DFID has awarded a number of contracts to ArmorGroup for armed protection of the main DFID office and residential compounds. These contracts also provide close protection (armed bodyguards) to staff when travelling to locations in Afghanistan deemed medium/high risk, and defensive driving training to our locally employed drivers. The value of this contract from June 2004 to December 2006 was £3,217,691. Since January 2007, DFID's security needs have been met through a contract issued by the FCO.
	Many of our overseas offices have contracts with local private security companies to guard residential properties. Each office would need to be contacted to provide details of the companies used and the value of each security contract. To obtain this information would incur a disproportionate cost.

Developing Countries: Politics and Government

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to encourage the composition of parliaments in developing countries to reflect the population of those countries in terms of  (a) gender,  (b) ethnicity,  (c) religious belief and  (d) sexuality; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: As part of its commitment to promoting good governance, DFID works to strengthen the parliaments of developing countries. What we do is different in different countries, depending on our assessment of what the priorities are. In some places we will focus more on the legislative function of parliaments, for instance, while in others our efforts will be channelled more towards strengthening oversight of the executive.
	Representation is of course a core function of parliaments everywhere, and DFID recognises that a representative parliament has a head start on this.
	One of the initiatives DFID has supported recently to improve representativeness is the High Level Committee on Reservations which has developed recommendations for affirmative action for women and dalits in the political structures of Nepal. Another group we have supported is the Forum des Femmes Rwandaises Parliamentaires (FFRP). The FFRP comprises all the women members of the Rwandan Parliament—and at 48.8 per cent. Rwanda has the highest female representation in the world. Our most recent support to the FFRP funded a conference on 22 and 23 February that celebrated the progress made towards gender equality in Rwanda. It also produced the "Kigali Declaration", that will add vitality to the efforts of other African countries to get more women into Parliament—following Rwanda's example.
	As we increase our focus on accountable, responsive governance, DFID will support more groups like Nepal's Reservations Committee and the FFRP—not only to get disadvantaged groups into parliaments, but to ensure they function effectively once there.

Developing Countries: Politics and Government

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what information is collected by his Department on the extent to which national parliaments of developing countries are representative of their populations in terms of  (a) gender,  (b) ethnicity,  (c) religious belief and  (d) sexuality.

Hilary Benn: The proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments is an indicator used to monitor progress towards the Millennium Development Goal to promote gender equality and empower women. The number of women in parliaments is also one of the governance indicators included in the new Country Governance Analysis (CGA) that is now a mandatory component of DFID's Country Assistance Planning process. DFID tracks progress on the gender composition of parliaments using data compiled by the United Nations and the Inter-Parliamentary Union.
	Information on the composition of national parliaments by ethnicity, religion and sexuality is not as easy to find. I am not aware of any international initiative to gather this information systematically. Where it is available—for one or more of these categories in particular parliaments—it is likely that our country offices hold this information, but it is not gathered and stored by DFID centrally.

Developing Countries: Poverty

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what response he has made to the National Audit Office report Tackling Rural Poverty in Developing Countries; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: DFID welcomes the report and is pleased that the NAO has recognised DFID's achievements in providing help to rural communities. The Public Accounts Committee will hold a hearing on the report on 4 June. DFID is studying the detailed analysis and recommendations in the report and is preparing to respond to the PAC.

Overseas Aid: Corruption

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the impact of corruption in British companies upon the effectiveness of good governance initiatives in the developing world;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the impact of corruption in British companies upon the achievement of development objectives overseas.

Hilary Benn: At a global level the World Bank Institute estimates that US$1 trillion plus or minus 40 per cent. is paid in bribes every year, representing 3 per cent. of the world's gross domestic product. No firm estimates exist on how this issue affects UK business specifically. The obstacles to measuring corruption scientifically have led to the measurement of perceptions.
	Transparency International's Bribe-payers Index (BPI) aims to evaluate the supply side of corruption by asking business experts in emerging economies for their impressions of the likelihood that companies from the listed countries pay or offer bribes in their business activities. The highest ranked country is the one whose companies are seen as least likely to pay bribes. The UK is ranked 6(th) out of 30 countries, the 2(nd) G7 country and 3(rd )EU country in the table. But the UK is not complacent because, as the UK White Paper on Eliminating World Poverty recognises, 'Corruption undermines the accountability of political leaders and officials to their citizens. When politicians are 'bought' by powerful people or businesses through bribery, or when leaders themselves use personal or public funds to buy support, they become representatives of the few and not the many. In short, corruption is both a cause and a symptom of bad governance.' Any such impact will undermine work to promote good governance and reduce poverty in developing countries.

Slavery

Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to tackle modern slavery.

Gareth Thomas: DFID supports long-term development programmes to tackle the poverty and social exclusion that make people vulnerable to modern slavery.
	The UK is also a major supporter of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and its Special Action Programme on Forced Labour (SAP-FL). We will provide core funding of almost £2 million to SAP-FL over the next three years, in addition to support to individual country programmes.
	Last month DFID published a booklet, "Breaking the Chains: Eliminating slavery, ending poverty". It highlights the link between the fight against slavery and poverty and some of the work the UK is supporting through the ILO and other organisations.

Sri Lanka: Overseas Aid

Elfyn Llwyd: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what recent discussions the Government have had with President Rajapakse on aid to the Tamil people of north-east Sri Lanka; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what steps his Department is taking to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches the people of north-east Sri Lanka following the blocking of the main road route into the area; and if he will make a statement.

Gareth Thomas: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I met the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister on 7 March. My hon. Friend, the Minister for the Middle East met the Sri Lankan President on 15 February. At these meetings we discussed the impact of the conflict on civilians of all ethnic groups and how the UK could best assist progress towards a settlement of Sri Lanka's tragic conflict.
	In September 2006 DFID gave US$1 million to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the UN for immediate humanitarian assistance. We are considering how to respond to the UN's latest request for funding to its 2007 Common Humanitarian Action Plan.

World Bank

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  how much his Department contributed to the World Bank's Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility in each of the last five years;
	(2)  if he will make a statement on the World Bank's Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility.

Hilary Benn: Although the Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) is not a World Bank fund, it is housed in the World Bank offices in Washington. It is a good example of donors successfully working together in development. The World Bank is one of 14 PPIAF donors.
	DFID has supported PPIAF over three phases since 1999. Our total commitment to PPIAF from 1999 to 2008 is £53 million. DFID provided the following funding to PPIAF over the last five financial years.
	
		
			   Amount (£) 
			 2005-06 2,804,781 
			 2004-05 6,525,733 
			 2003-04 7,179,905 
			 2002-03 8,209,761 
			 2001-02 3,598,848 
		
	
	Where developing country Governments do not have the capacity to provide good quality infrastructure and services for their people, PPIAF helps them to develop sound policies, regulations and institutions. PPIAF does this by providing developing country Governments with technical assistance which they can use to tap the full potential of public private partnerships in infrastructure. PPIAF also identifies, communicates and promotes best practice on matters relating to public private partnerships in infrastructure. It is also recognised as a leading resource for training and best practice in the role of public private partnerships in infrastructure service delivery.
	There are may examples of PPIAF's success. For example Kenya PPIAF provided technical assistance and training to enable micro-credit banks to lend to small water providers to provide clean water to rural and semi-urban communities. This has led to 21 micro-credit investments and an output based grant which will result in 60,000 people gaining access to clean water.
	Also in Ghana, PPIAF supported the Ghana Community Water and Sanitation Agency with regulatory and legal reform to improve small town water services. This has allowed local water operators to provide clean water to communities for the first time. Communities themselves were involved in the selection of the water providers. This has been successfully implemented in three towns and will be extended to 300 small towns across the country.
	After the war in 2002, the Government of Afghanistan recognised that they needed to expand telecommunications access and improve service delivery. They encouraged private mobile phone operators into their market, and asked the PPIAF to help them develop the initial regulatory framework and build the Government's own capacity and understanding of technical, commercial and regulatory issues. Today, where once there were only two telephones for every 1,000 people, there are now more than 1 million mobile phone subscribers with national and global access, and prices have declined by 70 per cent. through competition. This allows a journalist in Kabul to host a phone-in radio programme providing counselling to women, and helps small scale businesses like carpet merchants, brick sellers and mechanics to manage their businesses effectively and successfully.
	An independent strategic review of PPIAF in 2004 and internal DFID reviews have concluded that PPIAF is successful in what it does. Specifically, it has helped developing country Governments' capacity to improve their policies, laws, regulations and procedures that have resulted in better infrastructure and better services for their people. The PPIAF has also been recognised as a centre of excellence for advice to developing countries on public private partnerships, and there is high demand for PPIAF's services.
	Further information about the PPIAF and its successes can be found in the document entitled 'Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF): Helping developing countries to eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable development through Public-Private Partnerships in Infrastructure', copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of the House.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Refuges

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how much funding was allocated by his Department in each of the last three years towards providing shelters and other emergency accommodation for those affected by domestic violence.

David Hanson: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  The 'supporting people funding' provided by the Housing Executive for accommodation and support services for those affected by domestic violence 
			  £ 
			   2004-07( 1)  2006-07  2005-06  2004-05 
			 Accommodation-based 8,219,866.54 2,809,610.44 2,739,370.18 2,670,885.92 
			 Floating support services 2,421,522.90 827,694.22 807,001.86 786,826.82 
			 Total 10,641,389.44 3,637,304.66 3,546,372.04 3,457,712.74 
			 (1) Three year total 
		
	
	The total amount of housing benefit paid with respect to such accommodation over the last three financial years was £1,003,636.62. This is in addition to the figures detailed above.
	In the current financial year £676.439 in housing association grant has been allocated for the provision of accommodation to go on site this year.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

David Kelly

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs at what time and at what location on 14 August 2003 the resumed inquest into the death of Dr. David Kelly took place.

Harriet Harman: I am informed by the Oxfordshire coroner that the resumed inquest into the death of Dr. David Kelly took place at approximately 10 am in the Old Assize court at County Hall Oxford.

David Kelly

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether the resumed inquest on 14 August 2003 into the death of Dr. David Kelly was a public hearing; who was given prior notification of the intention to hold this hearing; and on what date that notification was given.

Harriet Harman: I am informed by the Oxfordshire coroner that the resumed inquest into the death of Dr. David Kelly was held in public on 14 August 2003. Notification was given to the interested persons and the press by telephone shortly beforehand.

David Kelly

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the statutory basis was on which the Lord Chancellor asked the Oxfordshire coroner, in a letter dated 12 August 2003, to  (a) keep the proceedings relating to the inquest into the death of Dr. David Kelly as short as possible and  (b) take the evidence in writing.

Harriet Harman: In his private secretary's letter of 12 August 2003 the Lord Chancellor required the Oxfordshire coroner to adjourn the Kelly inquest in accordance with section 17A of the Coroners Act 1988. He also requested that the coroner keep the proceedings as short as possible and, as far as the Coroners Rules allowed, to take the evidence in writing. There was no statutory basis for these requests.

David Kelly

Norman Baker: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs if she will make a statement on the compliance by the Oxfordshire coroner, in his consideration of the death of Dr. David Kelly, with the requirements of Rule 37 of the Coroners' Code, with particular reference to  (a) the likelihood of documentary evidence being disputed and  (b) the issuing of a public announcement relating to the admission of documentary evidence.

Harriet Harman: The coroner is an independent judicial officer. I do not comment on such decisions which are made in the coroner's judicial capacity.

Departments: Work Permits

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many work permits were applied for by  (a) her Department and  (b) its agencies in each of the last five years.

Vera Baird: It is part of standard pre-employment checks at recruitment stage to ensure that staff applying to be employed within the Department for Constitutional Affairs and its agencies are eligible to work in the civil service and meet the civil service nationality rules. Individuals who require a work permit may be employed in the civil service, but only in exceptional circumstances. Under TUPE terms staff from the 42 former Magistrates Courts Committees, each of which has separate terms and conditions, are exempt from civil service nationality rules. Information on how many work permits have been applied for in each of the last five years is not held centrally. To calculate the precise number of work permits applied for would incur disproportionate cost to the Department and its agencies.

Entry Clearances: Pakistan

David Lidington: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs whether the Immigration Appeal Tribunal has sent the decision papers on cases VA/08797/2006, VA/08788/2006 and VA/08793/2006 in which the Immigration Judge ruled on 6 October 2006 to  (a) the Home Department and  (b) HM High Commission, Islamabad.

Bridget Prentice: Information shows that the Immigration Judge determinations for appeal references VA/08797/2006, VA/08788/2006 and VA/08793/2006 were served upon the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) of the Home Office on 16 October 2006.
	In Entry Clearance and Family Visitor appeals the determination is served upon IND, which will arrange for the forwarding of the determination to the entry clearance post that made the original refusal. Checks of the UK Visas database show that the determinations were received at HM High Commission in Islamabad on 9 November 2006.

Incapacity Benefit: Appeals

Lynne Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the average time was between submission of appeals against refusal of incapacity benefit and a decision being taken in each of the last three years.

Vera Baird: The information my hon. Friend has asked for is contained in the following table.
	
		
			  IB cleared appeals March 2003 to April 2006: Average clearance time from lodged to first hearing 
			   Weeks 
			  Financial year  Average clearance time 
			 2003-04 20.24 
			 2004-05 19.48 
			 2005-06 19.19 
			  Notes: 1. All figures are subject to change as more up to date data become available. 2. Figures for the latest months may increase substantially as information feeds through to the Appeals Service. 3. Migration of customer records from the existing Generic appeals processing systems (GAPS) to the new G2 system commenced on the 5 June 2006. Consequently during the migration period information from GAPS will over time diminish while G2 will increase and statistical data after May 2006 will not available until the new data processing procedures are in place. 4. "Lodged" denotes when an appeal is submitted to the first tier agency. Lodged data only enter the GAPS database when the appeal reaches the Appeals Service  Source: 100 per cent. download of the generic appeals processing system.

Incapacity Benefit: Appeals

Lynne Jones: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many appeals against refusal of incapacity benefit have been received in each of the last 12 months; and what the range of dates of submission was of the appeals that were considered in February 2002.

Vera Baird: The information my hon. Friend has asked for is not available in the format requested as data are not collated on the ranges of dates of appeal submissions that reach a tribunal hearing. At present, data can only be supplied up to the period March 2006 due to the change over of computer systems.
	The following table, therefore, provides information on the number of appeals against the refusal of incapacity benefit received in each of the 12 months between April 2005 and March 2006.
	
		
			  All incapacity benefit appeals in 2005-06 
			   Lodged  Received 
			  2005   
			 April 5,490 4,710 
			 May 5,500 4,860 
			 June 5,660 5,960 
			 July 5,090 5,700 
			 August 5,440 5,540 
			 September 5,110 5,260 
			 October 4,800 5,270 
			 November 5,440 5,780 
			 December 4,790 4,140 
			  2006   
			 January 4,890 5,410 
			 February 5,440 5,030 
			 March 6,690 5,980 
			
			 2005-06 64,320 63,650 
			  Notes: 1. All figures are subject to change as more up to date data become available. 2. Figures for the latest months may increase substantially as information feeds through to the Appeals Service. 3. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10. 4. Totals may not sum due to rounding. 5. Migration of customer records from the existing generic appeals processing systems (GAPS) to the new G2 system commenced on the 5 June 2006. Consequently data after May 2006 are not available until the data from G2 are processed. 6. "Lodged" denotes when an appeal is submitted to the first tier agency. Lodged data only enter the GAPS database when the appeal reaches the Appeals Service. 7. "Received" denotes the number of appeals registered at the Appeals Service  Source: 100 per cent. download of the generic appeals processing system.

PUBLIC ACCOUNTS COMMISSION

Departments: Databases

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Chairman of the Public Accounts Commission what databases are controlled by the National Audit Office; and what percentage of the data in each database is estimated to be inaccurate or out of date.

Alan Williams: The National Audit Office maintains databases principally for the purposes of collecting internal management information. Its management information is updated on a regular basis and the Office has quality assurance arrangements to ensure that it remains reliable and up to date.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Departments: Work Permits

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many work permits were applied for by the Prime Minister's Office in each of the last five years.

Hilary Armstrong: The Prime Minister's Office forms part of the Cabinet Office. Information is provided for the Cabinet Office as a whole.
	The Cabinet Office does not apply for work permits, but as part of our pre-appointment checks we require a candidate to have a work permit, where appropriate, in order to be employed by the Cabinet Office.

PRIME MINISTER

Africa: Foreign Relations

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Prime Minister if he will consider the merits of appointing a Minister for Africa in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with  (a) responsibility for improving relations with African countries and  (b) analogous responsibilities to the Minister for Europe.

Tony Blair: While my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has overall responsibility for Foreign Policy, day-to-day responsibility for the UK's relationship with Africa lies with my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Lord Triesman of Tottenham. There are no current plans to review these ministerial responsibilities.

Members: Telephone Tapping

Oliver Heald: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  whether the Wilson Doctrine applies to hon. Members who have not taken the oath;
	(2)  what plans he has to amend or repeal the Wilson Doctrine;
	(3)  whether the Wilson Doctrine applies to the use of the ECHELON by the UKUSA Community.

Tony Blair: I have nothing further to add to my written ministerial statement of 30 March 2006,  Official Report, column 95WS.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Arab States

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when a Minister in his Department last visited  (a) Bahrain,  (b) Kuwait,  (c) Oman,  (d) Qatar,  (e) Saudi Arabia,  (f) the United Arab Emirates and  (g) Yemen on (i) a trade promotion visit and (ii) a visit in connection with other departmental responsibilities.

Alistair Darling: holding answer 2 March 2007
	The most recent visits by Ministers are as follows:
	
		
			   Visits 
			  (a) Bahrain January 2001 
			  (b) Kuwait June 2003 
			  (c) Oman No visits 
			  (d) Qatar April 2006 
			  (e) Saudi Arabia November 2003 
			  (f) United Arab Emirates June 2003 
			  (g) Yemen No visits 
		
	
	Visits cover both trade promotion and other Departmental responsibilities.

Broadband

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he is taking to ensure that all UK households have access to telecoms infrastructure capable of providing  (a) broadband as defined by Ofcom,  (b) at least 512 kbit/s and  (c) over 1.5 Mbits/s; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 12 March 2007
	At the present time there is no Universal Service Obligation (USO) in relation to broadband. Thus, there is no absolute obligation to supply broadband, of any speed, at all.
	The latest Ofcom figures reveal that Broadband is, however, available to over 99 per cent. of UK households. 37 per cent. of households can choose between four wholesale broadband providers, 8 per cent. can choose between three wholesales providers, 12 per cent. between two wholesale providers and the remainder can access a BT wholesale offering.
	At the retail level consumers have access to a very wide choice of retail broadband products provided by over 60 Internet Service Providers currently operating in the UK.

Broadband

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the number of telephone lines in  (a) England,  (b) Cheltenham Borough Council area and ( c) Springbank ward in Cheltenham that are able to support broadband; what definition he uses of broadband; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 12 March 2007
	In the UK, over 99.9 per cent. of households are connected to a broadband enabled exchange.
	However, not all of these households will necessarily be able to get broadband and there are two main reasons for this:
	1. there could be fibre in the network between the exchange and the household
	2. the telephone line could be too long to support broadband.
	It is difficult to be precise about the number of UK households that are able to receive a broadband service over the telephone line, but the figure of 99 per cent. probably represents a lower bound.
	It is not possible to provide data of this sort at a more local level.
	The definition of broadband that Ofcom uses in its economic market assessments is that it must have the following three characteristics:
	the service is always on, i.e. no dial up is required. This feature allows the user to maintain a permanent connection to the network so allowing real-time delivery of services such as email;
	it is possible to use both voice and data services simultaneously, whether they are provided together, for example over the same access route, or separately, perhaps using more than one access route; and
	it has a faster downstream speed than a dial-up connection (essentially >128kbit/s).

Broadband

Martin Horwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the proportion of UK households which have access to  (a) one,  (b) two,  (c) three and  (d) four or more broadband suppliers; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: While BT has rolled out broadband to over 99 per cent. of UK households, cable and Local Loop Unbundling operators have so far only rolled out broadband in certain parts of the UK. Thus, different areas in the UK are supplied by a different 'mix' of wholesale providers. The latest figures available to Ofcom are as follows:
	Percentage of UK households with only one (BT) wholesale broadband provider—42 per cent.
	Percentage of UK households with only two wholesale broadband providers—12 per cent.
	Percentage of UK households with only three wholesale broadband providers—7 per cent.
	Percentage of UK households with four or more wholesale broadband providers—37 per cent.
	It should be noted that broadband rollout, particularly based on LLU, is currently ongoing and therefore the coverage numbers presented here should be seen as a snap shot in time. This is a dynamic market and it is likely to look very different in a year from now.

Business Support

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much was spent by his Department on  (a) business support schemes and  (b) services to small businesses in each year since 2000.

Alistair Darling: holding answer 22 January 2007
	In answer to  (a), DTI has spent the following amounts on business support schemes since 2000:
	
		
			  Business support schemes 
			   £ million 
			 2000-01 279 
			 2001-02 461 
			 2002-03 414 
			 2003-04 317 
			 2004-05 312 
			 2005-06 381 
			  Note: DTI commenced the detailed tracking of the cost of specific business support schemes on a consistent basis from the 2003-04 financial year onwards. Therefore the information provided for earlier years is a best estimate. 
		
	
	In answer to  (b) DTI has spent the following amounts on services to small businesses—via the business link network—since 2000:
	
		
			  Business link network 
			   £ million 
			 2000-01 172 
			 2001-02 141 
			 2002-03 150 
			 2003-04 138 
			 2004-05 140 
			 2005-06 144 
			  Note: The business link network provides advice and support to c. 700,000 small businesses every year, at start up and growth stages, with the quality and reach of that advice increasing all the time.

Business: Cumbria

David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 16 October 2006,  Official Report, column 945W, on business assistance in Cumbria, how many of the businesses assisted by Business Link in Cumbria received assistance  (a) electronically,  (b) by telephone,  (c) in writing and  (d) through face to face interviews.

Margaret Hodge: The following number of businesses were assisted in Cumbria by Business Link:
	
		
			   Total businesses assisted  Electronically  By telephone  In writing  Face to face 
			 2001-2002 5,933 450 5,933 304 780 
			 2002-2003 5,552 720 5,552 333 722 
			 2003-2004 4,961 750 3,546 253 1,140 
			 2004-2005 5,058 4,325 2,400 307 1,043 
			 2005-2006 8,453 8,453 4,378 411 971 
		
	
	On many occasions one business may have been assisted through more than one method of communication.

Businesses: Orders and Regulations

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his most recent estimate is of the  (a) one-off cost and  (b) recurring costs of implementing the Consumer Credit Regulations 2004 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators.

Ian McCartney: The Regulatory Impact Assessments published alongside the regulations in 2004 estimated the costs to business as:
	
		
			  £ million 
			  Regulation  One-off cost  Recurring cost 
			 Consumer Credit Act 1974 (Electronic Agreements) Order 2004 0 0 
			 Consumer Credit (Disclosure of Information) Regulations 2004 Consumer Credit (Agreements) (Amendment) Regulations 2004 163.4 (1)— 
			 Consumer Credit (Early Settlement) Regulations 2004 180 (2)2 
			 (1) Small unqualified increase in printing costs due to increased volume of information for consumers. (2) +60 transfer to consumers as a result of fairer early settlement terms. 
		
	
	These costs were offset by estimated benefits of £312 million a year (including the £60 million transfer to consumers through fairer early settlement terms).
	Costs to the regulators were expected to be limited to the cost of training staff in the new requirements.

Businesses: Orders and Regulations

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the  (a) one-off cost and  (b) ongoing costs of implementing the Employment Relations Act 2004 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the  (a) one-off and  (b) ongoing costs of implementing the Directive to Establish a General Framework for Informing and Consulting Employees in the UK to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The DTI is totally committed to better regulation. On 11 December it published an ambitious Simplification Plan to reduce administrative burdens by 25 per cent. per year by 2010. The plan is a key part of an ongoing commitment to reducing unnecessary red tape and to making essential regulation simpler and more streamlined.
	Details in respect of these two questions are set out as follows:
	 126660
	 The Employment Relations Act 2004
	The full Regulatory Impact Assessment of the Employment Relations Act 2004 can be found from page 132 in the DTI publication "Employment Relations Research series No. 41: 2004 Compendium of Regulatory Impact Assessments" URN 05/1018
	 126661
	 The Directive to Establish a General Framework for Informing and Consulting Employees in the UK
	The full Regulatory Impact Assessment of the 2004 regulations to establish a general framework for informing and consulting employees in the UK can be found from page 91 in the DTI publication "Employment Relations Research Series No. 41: 2004 Compendium of Regulatory Impact Assessments", URN 05/1018.

Businesses: Orders and Regulations

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his most recent estimate is of the  (a) one-off cost and  (b) recurring costs of implementing the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators.

Ian McCartney: The Regulatory Impact Assessment published in 2002 contains estimates of the cost to businesses of implementing the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002 at some 3 per cent.—10 per cent. of turnover, implying costs in the range of around £3 million to £10 million. The Department has no information on costs to the Office of Fair Trading.

Businesses: Orders and Regulations

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what his most recent estimate is of the  (a) one-off cost and  (b) recurring costs of implementing the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (Amendment) Regulations 2004 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators.

Anne McGuire: I have been asked to reply.
	(i) The cost to business of implementing the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (Amendment) Regulations 2004 was estimated to be £29 million over 10 years with an additional £16.2 million to £69 million one-off costs in the first year of compliance.
	These figures should be considered against the benefits of reducing the risks from hazardous substances. While total benefits could not be quantified, the value of the expected reduction in allergic contact dermatitis because of chromium VI restrictions was estimated at £18 million to £53 million over 10 years.
	(ii) Costs to the health and safety regulators were not quantified but were considered to be small, with the majority of costs being incurred in the development of guidance and being balanced out by savings in enforcement. The information in this reply was drawn from the final Regulatory Impact Assessment for the legislation that is available in the Library or on the HSE website at http://www.hse.gov.uk/ria/index.htm
	The Government and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are committed to meeting the Better Regulations challenge. HSE is constantly reviewing what can be done better to ensure that the right balance is struck between protecting people at work and avoiding unnecessary burdens on business. Reviewing and improving the guidance to help employers comply with COSHH is one of the aims in HSE's simplification plan.

Chlorofluorocarbons

Mark Hunter: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps his Department is taking to phase out the remaining specialised uses of chlorofluorocarbons in the UK as required under the 1987 Montreal Protocol.

Malcolm Wicks: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by the Minister of State, Department of Health, the hon. Member for Don Valley (Caroline Flint), on 13 March 2007,  Official Report, column 307W, on essential uses of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and replacement of CFC-based asthma inhalers.
	Under the Montreal protocol and related EC legislation, essential use exemptions are also available for laboratory and analytical uses of CFCs. Two UK companies have been allocated small amounts of CFCs for these purposes in 2007.
	The European Commission may also authorise temporary exemptions for CFCs in existing military applications until 31 December 2008, where it can be demonstrated that technically and economically feasible alternative substances or technologies are not available or cannot be used. There is some limited use of CFCs for these purposes in the UK.
	The European Commission has begun a wide-ranging review of EC Regulation 2037/2000 on substances that deplete the ozone layer, in consultation with member states and stakeholders, including the continuing need for essential use exemptions.

Departments: BAE Systems

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many employees of BAE Systems employees are registered on his Department's security pass system; if he will list those people; and on what date each was registered.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The details of two BAE employees previously holding DTI security passes are held on the Department's pass system, although these registrations are in fact expired and no current passes have been issued. The registrations were dated 4 November 2004 and 6 June 2005. I am unable to list the details without permission of the individuals in question.

Departments: Freedom of Information

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry on how many occasions special advisers have been consulted in replying to freedom of information requests to his Department; and what his Department's policy is on the role of special advisers in the answering of freedom of information requests.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The DTI does not keep such records. Special advisers carry out their duties in accordance with the requirements of the 'Code of Conduct for Special Advisers'.

Departments: Paper

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what mechanisms are in place to ensure his Department's economical use of paper.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department's policy is to use recycled paper. Aligned to this policy, all paper procured through the Department's framework contract is recycled. The Department has an electronic filing system and paper filing is only used where necessary. In addition to this, the departmental printers are configured to print double sided to save paper.

Departments: Regeneration

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of his Department's spending was devoted to  (a) urban and  (b) rural regeneration and redevelopment in (i) 2003-04, (ii) 2004-05 and (iii) 2005-06.

Margaret Hodge: The Government are committed to building a strong economy in rural and urban areas. The Department's own products are available in both rural and urban areas. However, to provide a breakdown of the spend as requested could be achieved only at a disproportionate cost

Employment: Foreign Investment in the UK

Stephen Crabb: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate he has made of the number of additional jobs created by foreign direct investment into the UK in each year since 2000.

Ian McCartney: Cumulatively, over the period 2000-01 and 2005-06, inward Foreign Direct Investment projects in the UK reported the creation of 239,103 new jobs and 221,001 jobs safeguarded.
	No data on net additional UK jobs are available, but as there is good evidence that inward Foreign Direct Investment makes a strong contribution to the productivity and competitiveness of the UK economy, the overall impact on UK employment is expected to be positive.

Employment: Regulation

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the  (a) one-off and  (b) recurring costs of implementing the Employment Relations Act 1999 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the  (a) one-off and  (b) recurring costs of implementing the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 1999 (European Works Councils) to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the  (a) one-off and  (b) recurring costs of implementing the Working Time Regulations 1999 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators;
	(4)  what estimate he has made of the  (a) one-off and  (b) recurring costs of implementing the Employment Act 2002 to (i) businesses and (ii) his Department;
	(5)  what estimate he has made of the  (a) one-off and  (b) recurring cost of implementing the Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators;
	(6)  what estimate he has made of the  (a) one-off and  (b) recurring cost of implementing the Maternity and Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2001 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators;
	(7)  what estimate he has made of the  (a) one-off and  (b) recurring cost of implementing the Flexible Working (Procedural Requirements) Regulations 2002 to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The DTI is totally committed to better regulation. On 11 December it published an ambitious Simplification Plan to reduce administrative burdens by 25 per cent. per year by 2010. The plan is a key part of an ongoing commitment to reducing unnecessary red tape and to making essential regulation simpler and more streamlined.
	Details in respect of these seven questions are set out as follows:
	 125593
	 The Employment Relations Act
	The full Regulatory Impact Assessment of the Employment Relations Bill 1999 can be found from page 30 in the DTI publication "Employment Relations Research Series No. 53: 1999 Compendium of Regulatory Impact Assessments", URN 06/955. (Figures are in 1998 prices).
	 125595
	 The Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 1999 (European Works Councils)
	The full Regulatory Impact Assessment of the Transnational Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 1999 can be found from page 174 in the DTI publication "Employment Relations Research Series No. 53: 1999 Compendium of Regulatory Impact Assessments", URN 06/955. (Figures are in 1999 prices).
	 125598
	 The Working Time Regulations 1999
	The full Regulatory Impact Assessment of the Working Time Regulations 1999 can be found from page 117 in the DTI publication "Employment Relations Research Series No. 53: 1999 Compendium of Regulatory Impact Assessments", URN 06/955.
	 125601
	 The Employment Act 2002
	An assessment of the costs and benefits of the different legislation contained within the Employment Act 2002 can be found in the following DTI publications: "Employment Relations Research Series No. 40: 2002 Compendium of Regulatory Impact Assessments", URN 05/582; "Employment Relations Research Series No. 28: 2003 Compendium of Regulatory Impact Assessments", URN 04/743; and "Employment Relations Research Series No. 44: Employment Relations Monitoring and Evaluation Plan 2005", URN 05/1019.
	 125613
	 The Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000
	The full Regulatory Impact Assessment of the Part-Time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 can be found from page 1 in the DTI publication "Employment Relations Research Series No. 60: 2000 Compendium of Regulatory Impact Assessments" URN 06/1164.
	 125616
	 The Maternity and Parental Leave (Amendment) Regulations 2001
	The full Regulatory Impact Assessment of the Parental Leave Regulations: changes to extend entitlement can be found from page 112 in the DTI publication "Employment Relations Research Series No. 52: 2001 Compendium of Regulatory Impact Assessments", URN 06/927. The costs in part A of the RIA, associated with extending parental leave entitlements to all parents of children under five as at December 1999, no longer apply. The costs in part B of the RIA associated with providing additional leave for the parents of disabled children are ongoing.
	 125589
	 The Flexible Working (Procedural Requirements) Regulations 2002
	The full Regulatory Impact Assessment of the Flexible Working (Procedural Requirements) Regulations 2002 can be found in the DTI publication "Employment Relations Research Series No. 40: 2002 Compendium of Regulatory Impact Assessments", URN 05/582.

Energy Technologies Institute

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the timetable is for the establishment of the Energy Technologies Institute; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry published the prospectus for the Energy Technologies Institute on 14 September last year. It envisaged that the institute would be legally established and fully operational in 2008, with 50:50 public/private sector funding. The initial four private sector partners (BP, EON UK, EDF and Shell) have so far been joined by Rolls Royce and Caterpillar, and Scottish and Southern Electricity, and discussions are continuing with other organisations. The institute will be legally incorporated and the director appointed over the next few months. The first technical programmes and the organisation to host the institute hub should be identified in the summer.

Energy Technologies Institute

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what meetings  (a) he has and  (b) his officials have had with (i) private and (ii) public sector organisations on the Energy Technologies Institute.

Malcolm Wicks: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry published the prospectus for the Energy Technologies Institute on 14 September last year. It envisaged that the Institute would be legally established and fully operational in 2008, with 50:50 public/private sector funding. The initial four private sector partners (BP, EON UK, EDF and Shell) have so far been joined by Rolls Royce and Caterpillar, and Scottish and Southern Electricity, and discussions are continuing with other organisations. The institute will be legally incorporated and the Director appointed over the next few months. The first technical programmes and the organisation to host the institute hub should be identified in the summer.

Energy Technologies Institute

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what expressions of interest in  (a) hosting and  (b) managing the Energy Technologies Institute he has received from (i) private and (ii) public sector organisations.

Malcolm Wicks: Research organisations across the UK were invited in January to provide information on energy related research capacity, capabilities and resources and to indicate any interest in hosting the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) director and support staff. Over 20 of the submissions received offered to host the director and support staff. Most of these bids are either from academic institutions or from consortiums lead by them. The submissions are being considered by representatives of the funding partners who will prepare initial advice for the ETI Board (once legally established) and director (once appointed) to consider in detail and to follow-up as appropriate. Decisions will be a matter for the ETI itself.
	The initial four private sector partners (BP, EON UK, EDF and Shell) have so far been joined by Rolls Royce and Caterpillar, and Scottish and Southern Electricity, and discussions are continuing with other organisations. The institute will be legally incorporated and the director appointed over the next few months. The first technical programmes and the organisation to host the institute hub should be identified in the summer.

Energy: West Midlands

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment his Department has made of the merits of locating the energy technologies institute in the West Midlands.

Malcolm Wicks: holding answer 14 March 2007
	Research organisations across the UK were invited in January to provide information on research capacity and capabilities and to indicate any interest in hosting the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) Director and support staff. Submissions are being considered by representatives of the funding partners who will prepare initial advice for the ETI Board (once legally established) and Director (once appointed) to consider in detail and to follow-up as appropriate. Decisions will be a matter for the ETI itself. The Institute will operate on a "distributed" basis. A number of submissions have been received that include organisations in the West Midlands.

Equity

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in what percentage of companies' private equity groups own over 50 per cent. of shares in  (a) the UK,  (b) the North East region and  (c) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency.

Ian McCartney: This information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Exports: Algeria

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the value of exports to Algeria was in 2006.

Ian McCartney: UK exports of goods to Algeria were worth about £167 million in 2006 on an Overseas Trade Statistics basis. Figures for trade in services with Algeria are not available.

Exports: Namibia

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the value of UK exports was to Namibia in  (a) 1991,  (b) 2005 and  (c) 2006.

Ian McCartney: UK exports of goods to Namibia were worth about £4.0 million in 1991, £17.3 million in 2005 and £13.2 million in 2006, on an Overseas Trade Statistics basis. Figures for trade in services with Namibia are not available.

Exports: Poland

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the value of exports to Poland was in 2006.

Ian McCartney: UK exports of goods to Poland were worth about £2751 million in 2006 on an Overseas Trade Statistics basis; this figure may have been affected by transactions associated with missing trader VAT fraud particularly in the first half of the year. Figures for trade in services with Poland are likely to be available in summer 2007.

Imports: Namibia

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the value of imports from Namibia to the UK was in  (a) 2001 and  (b) 2006; and what the top three products imported were by (i) volume and (ii) value.

Ian McCartney: UK imports of goods to Namibia were worth about £316.5 million in 2001 and £346.6 million in 2006 on an Overseas Trade Statistics basis. Figures for trade in services with Namibia are not available.
	The Standard International Trade Classification divisions with the largest UK imports from Namibia are shown in the following tables:
	
		
			  (a)(i) By weight in 2001 
			   Tonnes 
			 01: Meat and meat preparations 8,589 
			 03: Fish, crustaceans, molluscs etc. 2,868 
			 28: Metalliferous ores and metal scrap 1,595 
		
	
	
		
			  (a)(ii) By value in 2001 
			   £ million 
			 66: Non-metallic mineral manufactures nes 238.9 
			 28: Metalliferous ores and metal scrap 43.1 
			 01: Meat and meat preparations 29.0 
		
	
	
		
			  (b)(i) By weight in 2006 
			   Tonnes 
			 24: Cork and wood 5,250 
			 01: Meat and meat preparations 3,524 
			 03: Fish, crustaceans, molluscs etc 1,568 
		
	
	
		
			  (b)(ii) By value in 2006 
			   £ million 
			 66: Non-metallic mineral manufactures nes 327.6 
			 01 : Meat and meat preparations 11.7 
			 24: Cork and wood 1.8 
			  Notes:  1..nes: not elsewhere specified.  2. For UK imports from Namibia, non-metallic mineral manufactures nes are primarily diamonds.   Source:  HMRC Overseas Trade Statistics.

Nuclear Power

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he plans to take to ensure an effective consultation on nuclear power in the energy review.

Malcolm Wicks: As set out in my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry's parliamentary statement of 22 February 2007, the Government will be holding a new consultation on nuclear energy which is likely to be published in early May, or before Easter if that is possible, together with the White Paper on energy policy.

Post Office: Reorganisation

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many submissions on the Post Office reorganisation consultation have been received from each region.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Government have received over 2,300 responses to their public consultation on the future of the Post Office network. The country/regional breakdown as of 9 March is as follows:
	
		
			   Number of responses 
			 East 103 
			 East Midlands 86 
			 London 79 
			 North East 65 
			 North West 124 
			 Northern Ireland 5 
			 Scotland 431 
			 South East England 415 
			 South West England 552 
			 Wales 116 
			 West Midlands 176 
			 Yorkshire/Humber 85 
			 Not given 68

Post Office: Reorganisation

Kate Hoey: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many responses have been received to the Post Office Network Consultation; and when he plans to announce its conclusions.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Government have received over 2,300 responses to its public consultation on the future of the Post Office network.
	We are currently reviewing the response and will be publishing our conclusions in due course.

Post Offices: Scotland

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many responses to the Post Office consultation his Department has received from  (a) Orkney and Shetland and  (b) each Scottish constituency.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Department has received over 2,300 responses to its public consultation on the future of the Post Office network, which ended on Thursday 8 March. In addition, the Department also received a number of local petitions and post card/stock letter campaigns.
	We do not hold the information in the form requested, though a breakdown by region indicates that responses from Scotland accounted for around 19 per cent. of the total.

Renewable Energy

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what assessment he has made of the merits of feed-in tariffs for the propagation of renewable energy; and whether he has investigated whether it would be possible to migrate from a system based upon renewable obligation certificates to one of feed-in tariffs.

Malcolm Wicks: The renewables obligation (RO) was introduced in 2002 to replace the previous support scheme, the Non Fossil Fuels Obligation (NFFO), which was a form of a feed in tariff. It was introduced as a means of encouraging greater deployment of renewables, providing investor confidence, and increasing value for money for the consumer. A review of the RO, carried out in 2005-06, confirmed that the RO was a more successful mechanism. Since its introduction eligible renewable electricity generated under the scheme has increased to 4.0 per cent of total electricity sales to UK consumers in 2005 up from 1.8 per cent. in 2002, compared with an increase under the NFFO from 0.2 per cent. of electricity sales in 1992 to 1.8 per cent. in 2002.
	The Energy Review has confirmed the Government's commitment to the renewables obligation as the mechanism to support deployment of renewables. The Government has recently consulted on their proposals to reform the RO. A consultation document, "Reform of the Renewables Obligation and Statutory Consultation on the Renewables Obligation Order 2007", was published 9 October 2006 and 206 responses were received. This Government will be considering all issues that have been raised.
	An announcement on the results of the consultation will be made in the Energy White Paper due to be published in March or May of this year.

Small Businesses

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what definition he uses of 'family business'.

Alistair Darling: holding answer 8 March 2007
	There is no standard definition used for 'family business'. A common definition, used by the DTI in its Annual Small Business Survey, is that a family business is one
	"majority owned by members of the same family".
	The 2005 survey found that 65 per cent. of all small and medium-sized enterprises were family businesses.

Trade Promotion

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when a minister in his Department last visited  (a) Chile,  (b) Brazil,  (c) Argentina,  (d) Mexico,  (e) Uruguay,  (f) Venezuela,  (g) Bolivia and  (h) Columbia on (i) a trade promotion visit and (ii) a visit in connection with other Departmental responsibilities.

Alistair Darling: The most recent visits by Ministers are as follows:
	
		
			   Visits 
			  (a) Chile 2002 
			  (b) Brazil September 2006 
			  (c) Argentina October 2000 
			  (d) Mexico October 2006 
			  (e) Uruguay No visits 
			  (f) Venezuela December 2000 
			  (g) Bolivia September 2002 
			  (h) Colombia No visits 
		
	
	Visits cover both trade promotion and other Departmental responsibilities.

Trade Promotion

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when a Minister in his Department last visited  (a) the US,  (b) Canada,  (c) Japan,  (d) Russia and  (e) Australia on (i) a trade promotion visit and (ii) a visit in connection with other Departmental responsibilities.

Alistair Darling: The most recent visits by Ministers are as follows:
	
		
			   Visits 
			  (a) US October 2006 
			  (b) Canada April 2004 
			  (c) Japan September 2006 
			  (d) Russia February 2007 
			  (e) Australia November 2006 
		
	
	Visits cover both trade promotion and other Departmental responsibilities.

Ukraine: World Trade Organisation

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what meetings he has held on the EU-Ukraine trade agreement; and what meetings he has held on the date of Ukrainian accession to the World Trade Organisation.

Ian McCartney: My right hon. Friend the Secretary for Trade and Industry has not held any meetings regarding the EU-Ukraine trade agreement, or regarding the date of Ukrainian accession to the World Trade Organisation. I have not held any such meetings either.
	The Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Office, discussed the proposed new enhanced EU-Ukraine Agreement, which will include a Free Trade Agreement, and prospects for Ukraine's accession to the WTO, with the President and Prime Minister of Ukraine during his visit to Kiev on 26 and 27 February.

Utilities: Billing

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will bring forward measures to require the average household charge on utility bills to reflect different sizes of dwellings and households.

Malcolm Wicks: There is no average household charge for gas and electricity supply, and it is for individual suppliers to set tariffs. Customers' energy costs will reflect, among other things, the size of the dwelling and the number of residents, as well as the measures the customer has taken to reduce energy use by energy efficiency measures. Water supply is the responsibility of the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Wind Power: Subsidies

Michael Weir: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the overall subsidies to the wind energy sector were for  (a) Scotland,  (b) England,  (c) Wales and  (d) Northern Ireland in each of the last five years.

Malcolm Wicks: The Government's main instrument for supporting renewables in England and Wales is the Renewables Obligation (RO), in Scotland it is the RO Scotland (ROS) and in Northern Ireland, the Northern Ireland RO (NIRO).
	The RO (ROS and NIRO) is a market-based support mechanism that requires licensed electricity suppliers to provide a specified and growing proportion of their electricity from eligible renewable sources. Wind farms are one of the technologies supported under the RO. This provides an assured market for renewable electricity and ensures that it attracts a premium.
	The full details for the past five years RO support to wind energy by UK country could be calculated but at a disproportionate cost. However details for the past two years have been calculated. The figures used for this calculation are based on the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets' (Ofgem) calculation of a Renewable Obligation Certificate's worth to a supplier (the buy-out price avoided plus the recycled buy-out fund amount).
	
		
			  £ million 
			   Onshore  Offshore 
			   2004-05  2005-06  2004-05  2005-06 
			 England and Wales 35.7 42.6 12.5 20.7 
			 Scotland 48.4 57.0 — — 
			 Northern Ireland — 10.8 — — 
			 Total 84.1 11 0.4 12.5 20.7 
		
	
	Aside from the RO, to date, the Government have committed £107 million in grant support towards the capital installation of offshore wind farm development. These offshore wind farms are all based off the coast of England.
	Additional support for onshore wind has in the recent past been given under the clear skies scheme in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The total for these projects was:
	
		
			   England  Wales  Northern Ireland 
			 2003 305,870 12,500 69,986 
			 2004 343,245 8,818 139,654 
			 2005 610,035 83,959 308,474 
			 2006 95,700 5,000 30,000 
			 (1) Scheme launch 
		
	
	In Scotland, the Scottish Executive provide funding for the Scottish Community and Householder Renewables Initiative (SCHRI) which was launched in 2002. Under this scheme, grants are awarded to eligible householders or not-for-profit community groups for the installation of renewable technologies including micro-wind turbines. It is not possible to provide a breakdown of grant commitments by year. However, as of January 2007, SCHRI capital grants with a total value of £1.7 million have been allocated to 152 projects where wind is one of up to two technologies installed with the grant.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Businesses: Orders and Regulations

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his most recent estimate is of the  (a) one-off cost and  (b) recurring costs of implementing the Work at Height Regulations to (i) businesses and (ii) the regulators.

Anne McGuire: One-off costs to businesses were estimated to be £222 million to £292.3 million and recurring costs £86 million to £154.2 million. One-off costs for regulators were estimated to be £0.9 million and recurring costs £0.4 million.
	Although we cannot attribute all of the reduction in falls injuries directly to the Work at Height Regulations they will have had a substantial influence and the lower number of reportable injuries to workers in 2005-06 compared with 2004-05 has saved nearly £51 million.
	The information in this reply was drawn from the final regulatory impact assessment for the legislation that is available in the Library or on the HSE website at:
	http://www.hse.gov.uk/ria/index.htm.
	The Government and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are committed to meeting the Better Regulation challenge. HSE is constantly reviewing what can be done better to ensure that people are protected at work while avoiding unnecessary burdens on business.

Child Support Agency

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many staff he expects to transfer from the Child Support Agency to its replacement agency; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what plans he has to transfer staff from the Child Support Agency to the Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission proposed in the White Paper A new system of child maintenance.

James Plaskitt: People working in the Child Support Agency at the point of transfer to the new Child Maintenance Enforcement Commission (C-MEC) will transfer with the full protection required by the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations as specified by the Cabinet Office's statement of practice on staff transfers in the public sector. We will work closely with trade unions to develop plans for this transfer. Once the transfer is complete C-MEC will be responsible for making any future decisions on staffing levels.

Employment Schemes

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on employment zones in each year since 1998.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 7 March 2007
	The information is in the following table.
	
		
			   Employment Zone spend (£ million) 
			 1998-99 1 
			 1999-2000 1 
			 2000-01 72 
			 2001-02 96 
			 2002-03 94 
			 2003-04 84 
			 2004-05 75 
			 2005-06 92 
			  Notes: 1. Employment Zones started in April 2000 but prototype Employment Zones operated during 1998 and 1999 which accounts for the spend during those years.  2. Figures are rounded to the nearest million.  3. Information is up to March 2006.  Source:  Department for Work and Pensions Financial Division.

Low Incomes: Grants

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with which organisations he has held discussions on the introduction of seasonal grants for families on low incomes.

James Plaskitt: Ministers in this Department have attended meetings on this and other related issues with a variety of organisations including Save the Children, the NSPCC, Barnado's, One Parent Families, Child Poverty Action Group and End Child Poverty.

National Insurance

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many adults have a national insurance number in the UK.

James Plaskitt: The total number of national insurance numbers in issue at 31 December 2006 was approximately 76 million. There are approximately 16.5 million national insurance numbers in issue where the person is deceased. These numbers are retained which means there are approximately 59.5 million in issue to adults, not all of whom will be resident in the United Kingdom.

New Deal

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on all new deal programmes in each year since 1996-97 in 2003-04 prices; how much he estimates will be spent in each of the next three years in 2003-04 prices; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Murphy: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  New deal expenditure at 2003-04 prices 
			£ million 
			 1997-98 Outturn 50 
			 1998-99 Outturn 353 
			 1999-2000 Outturn 591 
			 2000-01 Outturn 648 
			 2001-02 Outturn 713 
			 2002-03 Outturn 758 
			 2003-04 Outturn 655 
			 2004-05 Outturn 622 
			 2005-06 Outturn 532 
			 2006-07 Budget 550 
			 2007-08 Planned 573 
			  Notes:  1. Factors used to calculate 2003-04 prices are taken from Treasury Gross Domestic Product deflators.  2. The earliest reported costs for new deal are for the financial year 1997-98 as the programme started in January 1998.  3. Figure for 2008-09 are not available.  Source:  Jobcentre Plus Financial Reporting and Control Team Notes:

New Deal

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions why spending on new deal programmes for  (a) 18 to 24-year-olds and  (b) 25 year olds and over was reduced between 2004-05 and 2005-06; what budget has been set for 2006-07; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Murphy: Between them, the mandatory new deal programmes have been successful in helping more than 965,000 people into work. New deal streamlining measures were announced in the Chancellor's 2003 budget statement. Spending on both new deal for young people and new deal 25-plus decreased partly because of these changes, which started in 2004-05 but were more fully implemented in 2005-06. The most substantial change was to reduce the minimum period of time participants would spend on the options stage of the programme from 26 to 13 weeks.
	Evidence indicates that two thirds of all mandatory new deal job outcomes occur before the options stage, and most outcomes that do occur during options are achieved during the first 13 weeks. The programmes continue to ensure that participants who need additional help to get into work receive it, for example by spending more than 13 weeks on the options stage of the programme.
	Budgeted expenditure for 2006-07 is £225 million for new deal for young people and £157 million for new deal 25-plus.

New Deal

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much his Department spent on the new deal in each year since 2003-04; and what spending is planned in each year to 2009-10.

Jim Murphy: The available information is in the following table. Figures for 2008-09 and 2009-10 are not available.
	
		
			   New deal spend since 2003-04 (£ million) 
			 2003-04(1) 655 
			 2004-05(1) 639 
			 2005-06(1) 538 
			 2006-07(1) 590 
			 2007-08(3) 631 
			 (1) Actual spend (2) Budgeted spend. (3) Planned spend.  Notes: 1. Latest confirmed spend figures are to March 2006.  2. Figures include all new deal programme costs, staff costs, and allowances paid to participants, apart from the 50 plus element of the working tax credit, which is the responsibility of HMRC.  3. Figures are rounded to the nearest £ million.  Sources:  DWP Financial Strategy Division, DWP Financial Control Division, DWP Information Directorate.

New Deal for Lone Parents: Take-up

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many participants there were in the new deal for lone parents each month since 1998; and how many in each month successfully found employment.

Jim Murphy: holding answer 8 February 2007
	The information is in the table:
	
		
			  New deal for lone parents 
			  Month/year  Participants  People gaining a job 
			  1998   
			 November 10,820 1,220 
			 December 13,070 830 
			
			  1999   
			 January 19,380 1,480 
			 February 27,240 1,990 
			 March 35,540 2,460 
			 April 39,960 3,170 
			 May 42,440 2,760 
			 June 43,620 2,640 
			 July 45,310 2,910 
			 August 46,320 2,180 
			 September 50,200 3,270 
			 October 54,770 5,490 
			 November 56,190 4,810 
			 December 51,650 2,890 
			
			  2000   
			 January 53,230 3,290 
			 February 56,710 3,670 
			 March 60,410 5,060 
			 April 61,730 3,680 
			 May 62,810 3,900 
			 June 63,440 4,920 
			 July 63,420 3,760 
			 August 62,820 3,470 
			 September 65,590 6,030 
			 October 65,950 5,000 
			 November 64,570 5,150 
			 December 60,710 3,940 
			
			  2001   
			 January 61,620 3,620 
			 February 62,630 3,810 
			 March 63,450 5,140 
			 April 61,820 4,170 
			 May 60,970 4,160 
			 June 60,750 4,990 
			 July 60,530 3,880 
			 August 60,610 4,400 
			 September 62,220 5,880 
			 October 60,550 5,840 
			 November 61,280 7,190 
			 December 59,310 3,360 
			
			  2002   
			 January 61,860 4,060 
			 February 65,150 4,780 
			 March 68,990 6,380 
			 April 69,800 5,290 
			 May 72,970 7,030 
			 June 74,700 5,250 
			 July 76,120 5,200 
			 August 76,390 6,600 
			 September 81,460 8,200 
			 October 82,460 7,210 
			 November 81,490 8,000 
			 December 77,480 3,360 
			
			  2003   
			 January 79,080 5,210 
			 February 80,750 4,590 
			 March 81,850 4,860 
			 April 82,190 4,540 
			 May 82,610 6,320 
			 June 84,270 5,550 
			 July 84,570 5,190 
			 August 84,730 5,840 
			 September 88,220 8,400 
			 October 90,380 9,750 
			 November 89,970 7,460 
			 December 85,890 4,620 
			
			  2004   
			 January 87,040 6,580 
			 February 89,110 5,930 
			 March 89,970 6,610 
			 April 88,810 7,470 
			 May 87,690 6,650 
			 June 85,690 6,000 
			 July 82,640 6,990 
			 August 80,390 5,300 
			 September 80,390 8,290 
			 October 81,060 10,630 
			 November 79,270 8,310 
			 December 72,650 5,250 
			
			  2005   
			 January 73,980 5,560 
			 February 74,570 6,220 
			 March 73,990 5,330 
			 April 72,950 7,260 
			 May 70,650 6,150 
			 June 68,660 5,340 
			 July 66,970 5,810 
			 August 65,680 4,390 
			 September 68,180 8,660 
			 October 68,180 6,880 
			 November 67,120 6,580 
			 December 62,410 4,360 
			
			  2006   
			 January 63,100 4,230 
			 February 64,140 4,800 
			 March 63,450 6,220 
			 April 60,700 4,350 
			 May 58,300 4,290 
			 June 56,870 4,810 
			 July 54,910 3,510 
			 August 53,040 3,270 
			  Notes: 1. The table includes separate figures for the number of people participating in a particular month, and the number of people gaining a job in a particular month. 2. People participating in a particular month may have gained a job in a subsequent month, and so will be recorded in that month as gaining a job. 3. New deal for lone parents started in October 1998. 4. Latest data is to August 2006.  Source:  Information Directorate, Department for Work and Pensions

New Deal for Young People

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the figures for people who are classed as not in employment, education or training include those who are participating in New Deal for Young People.

Jim Murphy: Our measure of people who are not in employment, education or training includes those participating in the gateway stage of the new deal. However, once individuals move onto a new deal option they are counted as being in employment, education or training.

Occupational Pensions

Julie Kirkbride: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many people took early retirement from their occupational pension scheme before April 2005; and how many are members of schemes in the Pension Protection Fund and in schemes negotiating to enter the fund;
	(2)  if he will estimate the cost of  (a) removing the 90 per cent. cap and paying all pensions at the scheme level,  (b) removing the 90 per cent. cap but keeping the overall cap on the level of pension provided and  (c) removing the age discount for those who have not reached their normal retirement age for those people who took early retirement before April 2005 whose fund is in the Pension Protection Fund or negotiating to enter it.

James Purnell: There are currently three pension schemes which have completed an assessment period with the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) and whose members are receiving compensation from the fund; those members do not include any early retirees.
	The remaining requested information is not available. Data on the number of early retirees are held by individual schemes and are not held centrally by the PPF until schemes have completed the assessment period. To gather the requested data would therefore entail contacting each scheme individually and incur disproportionate cost.
	As it is not possible to determine the number of members who have taken early retirement it is therefore not possible to calculate the various requested estimated costs.

Pensioners: Leicester

Peter Soulsby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many pensioners live in the Leicester local authority area; how many are in receipt of council tax benefit; and what percentage this is of the total number of pensioners living in the local authority area.

James Plaskitt: The available information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Council tax benefit (CTB) recipients, Leicester local authority, August 2006 
			   Number/Percentage 
			 CTB recipients aged 60 and over 15,190 
			 Population aged 60 and over 47,100 
			 Percentage of population aged 60 and over claiming CTB 32.3 
			  Notes: 1. The data refer to benefit units, which may be a single person or a couple. 2. Case loads have been rounded to the nearest 10 and percentages to 1 decimal place. 3. Council tax benefit figures exclude second adult rebate cases. 4. 'Aged 60 and over' is defined as benefit units where the claimant and/or partner are aged 60 and over. Therefore figures will contain some claimants aged under 60 where there is a partner aged over 60 years. 5. The data refer to benefit units which may be a single person or a couple.  Sources: 1. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 per cent. case load stock-count taken in August 2006. 2. Office for National Statistics mid-2005 population estimates.

Personal Income

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many people earned over the  (a) £5,  (b) £10 and  (c) £20 per week earning disregard and had their housing benefit reduced in each of the last three years;
	(2)  how many people earned over the  (a) £5,  (b) £10 and  (c) £20 per week earning disregard and had their council tax benefit reduced in each of the last three years.

James Plaskitt: The information is not available.

Personal Pensions

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether an investor in a personal account to be established under the provisions of the Pensions Bill will have the option to invest in  (a) their local economy,  (b) ethical funds,  (c) green funds and  (d) infrastructure projects for the local community.

James Purnell: It will be up to the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority to decide on the appropriate investment funds to be offered to members taking into account any legal requirements and objectives, for example to run personal accounts in the best interests of members. We expect this will include a choice of social, environmental and ethical funds and branded funds.

Social Fund

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  whether there is a target in place for the length of time taken to process an application to the Social Fund via the Social Fund hotline;
	(2)  whether there is a target in place for the length of time taken to process an application for a community care grant;
	(3)  whether applications made to the Social Fund can be fast tracked under exceptional circumstances;
	(4)  whether there is a target in place for the length of time taken to process an application to the Social Fund via the Social Fund hotline.

James Plaskitt: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 19 March 2007:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions asking whether there are targets in place for the length of time taken to process an application to the Social Fund via the Social Fund hotline, for the length of time taken to process an application for a community care grant, and whether applications made to the Social Fund can be fast tracked under exceptional circumstances. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	Jobcentre Plus has a number of targets that are agreed with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, supported by a suite of Key Management Indicators (KMI) that set the expected standards of delivery.
	The KMI relating to Social Fund applications requires Crisis Loans (whether taken by telephone or otherwise) to be dealt with within an actual average clearance time of two days. Where the application is for living expenses however this must, wherever possible, be dealt with on the day that the application is made. For Community Care Grants, the KMI specifies that applications be processed within an actual average clearance time of nine days.
	All applications to the Social Fund are dealt with as quickly as possible. Whilst there is no specific fast track system, staff are expected to treat each individual application on its merits to give sympathetic consideration to any exceptional circumstances faced by the customer.
	I hope this is helpful,

Social Fund

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on promoting the Social Fund hotline during the last 12 months for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: Jobcentre plus does not have a social fund hotline and does not actively promote the social fund to the public. However, material is produced to signpost customers to the correct channels if they wish to make or pursue an enquiry or make an application.
	During the last 12 months £289,746.84 has been spent on signposting for the social fund.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether there is any reward mechanism for people whose calls to the benefit fraud hotline result in successful prosecution.

James Plaskitt: No.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many user visits the benefit theft website received in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: The DWP initiative targeting benefit fraud was re-launched as targeting benefit thieves in November 2006. On the site at www.dwp.gov.uk/benefit-thieves people can anonymously report someone they suspect of committing benefit theft.
	The information is in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of visits to the targeting benefit fraud and targeting benefit thieves websites 
			  Targeting benefit fraud  Visits  Unique visitors 
			 February 2006 71,739 18,219 
			 March 2006 80,495 21,495 
			 April 2006 57,562 16,009 
			 May 2006 62,886 17,552 
			 June 2006 54,367 15,596 
			 July 2006 56,061 17,252 
			 August 2006 56,865 17,834 
			 September 2006 55,001 17,468 
			 October 2006 49,487 16,173 
			
			  Targeting benefit thieves   
			 November 2006 184,133 19,972 
			 December 2006 101,424 13,739 
			 January 2007 153,663 22,982 
			  Notes:  1. Visits - Number of times a visitor or visitors came to the site. Each visit is recorded separately for every visit more than thirty minutes apart.  2. Unique Visitors - Individuals who visited the site during the report period. If someone visits more than once, they are counted only the first time they visit.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether calls to the benefit fraud hotline are recorded.

James Plaskitt: No.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on promoting the benefit fraud hotline in each of the last 12 months for which figures are available.

James Plaskitt: The Department runs the benefit fraud communications campaign primarily to positively reinforce honest behaviour, create a climate of intolerance to benefit fraud and to undermine its social acceptability.
	The figure given as follows represents media expenditure for those elements of the campaign which include promotion of the national benefit fraud hotline.
	Advertising expenditure is only available on an annual basis. Advertising expenditure for the last full 12 month period is given in the following table.
	
		
			   Advertising spend (£000) 
			 2005-06 5,055 
			  Notes:  1. All figures are exclusive of VAT.  2. The figures in these tables refer to media spend only, excluding production and other costs.  3. All figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.

Social Security Benefits: Languages

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many claimants of  (a) jobseeker's allowance and  (b) other income-related benefits took up the offer of free English provision in each year since 1997; how many places for English provision were available in each year; and what the budget was for the provision of free English lessons in each year;
	(2)  if he will place in the Library the guidelines given to jobcentres for improving the take-up of English courses.

Jim Murphy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the chief executive of Jobcentre Plus, Lesley Strathie. I have asked her to provide the hon. Member with the information requested.
	 Letter from Lesley Strathie, dated 19 March 2007:
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply to your questions asking about: the number of claimants of Jobseeker's Allowance and other income-related benefits who took up the offer of free English provision in each year from 1997; how many places for English provision were available in each year; and what budget was provided for the provision of free English lessons in each year; and whether a copy of Jobcentre Plus guidelines to advisers will be placed in the Library. This is something that falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	I am unable to answer your specific questions as we do not routinely collect data about Jobcentre Plus funding provision at the level requested. Within Jobcentre Plus language support forms one component of the basic skills provision available to help people improve their literacy, numeracy and language skills through employment programmes such as the New Deal.
	In addition to the provision available through the New Deal, many benefit customers access freely available provision provided and funded by other organisations such as the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), local authorities and community-based organisations.
	The Jobcentre Plus guidelines for advisers are being updated in the light of the Minister of State's recent announcement about measures to help break down language barriers that are preventing unemployed people from finding work and a copy will be placed in the Library when they are completed.

Social Security Benefits: Offenders

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the cost was to the public purse of benefits paid to foreign nationals released from the prison estate who have leave to remain in the UK for human rights reasons in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

James Plaskitt: The information is not available.

Vocational Training

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what mechanisms are in place  (a) to verify and  (b) to audit the (i) information on application forms for government-funded training courses, (ii) employment status of applicants and (iii) assessments of standards achieved undertaken by training agencies.

Phil Hope: I have been asked to reply.
	It is the responsibility of the learning providers themselves to verify learners' eligibility or participation on publicly funded post-16 training courses. However, the Department works closely with the Learning and Skills Council (LSC), which is responsible for funding post-16 learning providers, to ensure that appropriate eligibility criteria are in place and that audit arrangements are robust and fit for purpose. The LSC also provides additional guidance to providers on the eligibility of learners and audit requirements as part of the evidence requirements for funding purposes.
	It is the responsibility of awarding bodies to mark exam papers and to check the coursework marks given by those learning providers who deliver accredited qualifications. The awarding bodies are regulated by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, who are required to monitor and report publicly on qualifications and the performance of awarding bodies.

Winter Fuel Payments

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households claimed winter fuel payments in each financial year since 2001-02; and how many have claimed in 2006-07.

James Purnell: The following table shows the number of household payments made from winter 2002-03. Information is not available for earlier years. Figures for winter 2006-07 are not yet available but we expect the number to be similar to that for winter 2005-06.
	
		
			   Household payments made 
			 2002-03 8,100,040 
			 2003-04 8,166,350 
			 2004-05 8,377,370 
			 2005-06 8,506,750 
			  Notes:  1. Figures rounded to the nearest 10.  2. Any residence found to have four or more occupants aged 60 and over is not included in the household figures as it is assumed to be a care home.  Source:  Information directorate 100 per cent. data.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

National Land and Property Gazetteer

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library a copy of the National Land and Property Gazetteer's Data Entry Conventions and Best Practice Guide.

Ruth Kelly: The National Land and Property Gazetteer is the responsibility of the Improvement and Development Agency. The requested guide is available at http://www.nlpg.org.uk/documents/LLPG_SNN_best_ practice_v2.pdf and a copy has been placed in the Library.

Commission for Equality and Human Rights

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government where she plans the regional offices of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights to be based; and whether they will be located on the basis of Government office for the regions boundaries.

Ruth Kelly: The location of the regional offices of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights will be for the Commission itself to determine.

Council Housing: Greater London

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many tenants in  (a) arms length management organisation,  (b) council managed and  (c) housing association managed properties there are in London in each borough.

Yvette Cooper: The Department does not collect the number of tenants in the properties my hon. Friend refers to. However, it has collected on a provisional basis the numbers of rented dwellings which those organisations manage on 1 April 2006, which the following table shows:
	
		
			  Authority  Number of dwellings managed directly by local authority( 1)  Number of dwellings managed by arms length management organisations (ALMOs)( 1)  Number of dwellings managed by housing associations or registered social landlords (RSLs)( 2) 
			 Barking 19,985 0 2,494 
			 Barnet 0 11,106 6,588 
			 Bexley 0 0 11,766 
			 Brent 0 9,608 13,827 
			 Bromley 0 0 15,403 
			 Camden 24,581 0 10,840 
			 Croydon 14,159 0 9,117 
			 Ealing 0 13,874 10,945 
			 Enfield 11,956 0 6,675 
			 Greenwich 25,024 0 9,568 
			 Hackney 0 (4)21,324 21,927 
			 Hammersmith 0 13,261 12,151 
			 Haringey 0 16,431 12,738 
			 Harrow 5,089 0 3,683 
			 Havering 0 10,411 2,619 
			 Hillingdon 0 10,838 5,958 
			 Hounslow 0 13,649 6,751 
			 Islington 0 25,189 1 1,934 
			 Kensington 0 6,961 12,114 
			 Kingston upon Thames 4,863 0 2,355 
			 Lambeth (3)26,758 (3)3,189 19,005 
			 Lewisham (3)13,321 (3)12,642 8,588 
			 London (City of) 1,897 0 249 
			 Merton 6,609 0 4,461 
			 Newham 0 (4)17,814 11,524 
			 Redbridge 4,741 0 4,112 
			 Richmond-upon-Thames 0 0 9,473 
			 Southwark 41,482 0 14,043 
			 Sutton 0 6,897 4,397 
			 Tower Hamlets 17,647 0 20,519 
			 Waltham Forest 0 10,671 10,211 
			 Wandsworth 17,296 0 9,971 
			 Westminster 0 12,335 12,934 
			 Total 235,408 216,200 318,940 
			 (1) Figures in these two columns exclude shared ownership dwellings and dwellings managed under the private finance initiative (PFI). They are derived from the Housing Revenue Account Base Data Return 2007-08 submitted by local authorities to the Department in October 2006, and are subject to what is said in notes 3 and 4. (2) Figures in this column were collected from local authorities by the 2006 Housing Strategy Statistical Appendix. They include dwellings owned or leased by landlords registered with the Housing Corporation, local authority dwellings leased exclusively by an RSL, and housing association dwellings that are not registered with the Housing Corporation. They exclude dwellings managed but not owned by RSLs and any dwellings sold under shared ownership or rents to mortgage schemes. (3) Figures for Lambeth and Lewisham in these two columns are derived from the number of tenanted dwellings in their ALMOs at the time of their establishment in 2005 and 2007 respectively. In practice, Right to Buy sales (RTB) since then are likely to mean that the number of ALMO tenanted dwellings and dwellings managed directly the local authority are slightly different. (4) Number of dwellings at the time of the establishment of the ALMO in 2005. In practice RTB sales are likely to mean that dwellings are slightly fewer.

Council Tax: Appeals

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many appeals against council tax bandings were  (a) made and  (b) successful in England in each year since the introduction of council tax.

Ruth Kelly: For information about council tax banding appeals between 2000-01 and 2004-05 I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 16 February 2006,  Official Report, column 2239W, given to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles). The Valuation Tribunal Service has held information centrally on the number of successful appeals since the beginning of 2006-07. Information for that year up to 31 December 2006 and for the number of appeals in 2005-06 is as follows:
	
		
			   Number of council tax banding appeals  Number of appeals requiring full tribunal hearing  Number successful 
			 2005-06 23,199 n/a n/a 
			 2006-07 (to 31 December 2006) 17,464 1149 473 
			 n/a = Not available.

Council Tax: Valuation

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate has been made of the number of properties in Bands D and above that would move up a council tax band following a council tax revaluation in England, assuming no change to the number of bands.

Ruth Kelly: The Government have made clear that there will be no revaluation during this Parliament.

Council Tax: Valuation

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will take steps to ensure that  (a) energy efficiency measures,  (b) local energy installations and  (c) other home improvements are not considered when homes are valued for council tax purposes.

Ruth Kelly: Provisions in the Council Tax (Alterations of Lists and Appeals) Regulations 1993, which have been in force since council tax was introduced, mean that adding energy efficient measures such as double glazing or cavity wall insulation, installing equipment such as micro wind turbines and solar panels, or making any other improvements to a property will have no effect on its current council tax banding.
	If a property is sold, improvements may have an effect, but only if they are such that they push the value of the property into the next band range. Only substantial improvements would be likely to move a property up a band when it is sold. Energy efficiency measures are, in isolation, unlikely to do so.

Councillors: Allowances

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the average level is of allowances paid to councillors.

Ruth Kelly: The latest consolidated data is from the survey of Member Allowances, IDeA, 2004. On average, councillors in England received £5,187 in basic allowances per annum. In addition, 46.8 per cent. of councillors also received a special responsibility allowance (SRA). An overall estimate of average SRA payments is not available.
	The level of councillor remuneration is at the discretion of individual authorities.

Departments: Labour Party

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on how many occasions since 2002 civil servants in her Department, including the former Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, and its agencies have been given permission to attend the Labour Party conference to carry out departmental business.

Ruth Kelly: This information is not held centrally. All permanent civil servants are covered by the civil service management code and Cabinet Office guidance on political activity.

Departments: Ministerial Policy Advisers

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will place in the Library copies of the letters of appointment of each of her Department's special advisers.

Ruth Kelly: My special advisers are appointed under terms and conditions set out in the "Model Contract for Special Advisers", a copy of which is in the Library of the House. Individual letters of appointment are confidential between the employer and the employee and therefore not for publication.

Domestic Violence

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 19 January 2007,  Official Report, column 1353W, to the hon. Member for Brentwood and Ongar (Mr. Pickles) on domestic violence, what additional funding is being provided to local authorities to install Sanctuary Schemes.

Ruth Kelly: My Department has allocated £47.2 million to local authorities to help them tackle and prevent homelessness in their area for 2007-08. They may choose to use a proportion of this money to fund Sanctuary Schemes. However work in the London borough of Barnet has shown that in one year the installation of 40 sanctuaries, which cost approximately £68,000, led to an estimated saving of approximately £600,000. We anticipate significant savings for local authorities on this basis, due to the reduction in costs associated with homelessness within communities.
	The £47.2 million is part of Communities and Local Government's £74 million homelessness prevention grant for 2007-08 which supports schemes across local authorities and the voluntary sector.

Flood Control

Rob Marris: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the regional spatial strategies will take account of the  (a) effects on the costs of future flood defences of the effects of climate change and  (b) the costs of flood defences on the long-term sustainability of development; and if she will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: The Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) provides the long term spatial planning framework for a region for a 15 to 20 year period, with the objective of contributing to the achievement of sustainable development. In considering climate change and the long term sustainability of development, the costs of flood defences are taken into account alongside other matters, including the availability of resources.
	We have recently consulted on a draft Planning Policy Statement (PPS) 'Planning and Climate Change'. This sets out our proposals on how planning should contribute to stabilising climate change and take into account the unavoidable consequences. Regional Planning Bodies will be expected to prepare and deliver RSSs for their regions that secure new development and shape places resilient to the effects of climate change in ways consistent with social cohesion and inclusion. These RSSs should be informed by sustainability appraisals which integrate social, environmental and economic considerations from the start of the plan-making process.
	Regions will be expected to consider their vulnerability to climate change; the desirability of avoiding new development in those areas with likely increased vulnerability to climate change, particularly where it is not viable to manage likely risks through suitable measures to provide resilience; and, bring forward adaptation options for existing development in likely vulnerable areas.
	The draft PPS builds on our policies in PPS25 'Development and Flood Risk' which sets out the detailed considerations applicable to taking flood risk into account in determining strategic planning considerations in the RSS for a region.

Home Information Packs

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her latest estimate is of the  (a) minimum,  (b) average and  (c) maximum cost of a (i) home information pack and (ii) energy performance certificate.

Ruth Kelly: The price of a home information pack and its component parts, including an energy performance certificate will be set by the market and not by Government.

Homelessness: Hostels

Andrew Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the regulatory regime is for homeless hostels.

Yvette Cooper: Hostels are already regulated. Most are owned by registered social landlords (RSLs) and so are regulated by the Housing Corporation. This ensures that hostels have appropriate procedures in place to ensure that the hostel has the right management systems for maintaining good quality temporary homes and, where suitable, the right level of support services.
	Services in hostels which are funded by Supporting People (SP) are expected to work to minimum standards of service provision set out in an SP quality assessment framework. All services are also subject to review to ensure that they provide a good quality service to their users, are value for money and meet objectives sat out in local SP strategies and other local and national strategies.
	In addition, we have published a best practice toolkit to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of hostels and are investing £90 million in a hostels capital improvement programme to help improve the physical standards and reshape services in hostels.

Homelessness: Hostels

Andrew Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what progress has been made by the Hostels Capital Improvement Programme in improving the quality of life of homeless people; and if she will make a statement.

Yvette Cooper: The Hostels Capital Improvement Programme has made significant progress. Over £90 million is going to be invested in around 150 projects in 47 local authority areas. The funding is underpinned by the need to change the very nature of hostels to provide better opportunities for people who have experienced homelessness and prevent them from becoming homeless again. Through the programme, hostels will cease to be places of last resort, but instead will be centres of excellence and choice which positively change lives.

Homelessness: Hostels

Andrew Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment she has made of the appropriateness of the current balance between first stage and second stage hostel accommodation.

Yvette Cooper: It is the responsibility of local authorities, in discussion with stakeholders, to consider the need for hostel provision in their areas to help inform their homelessness strategies and supporting people strategies. This will enable authorities to make an assessment of needs and resources, identifying gaps in the system and setting priorities.
	My Department will shortly be publishing a 'Review of hostels for rough sleepers in London'. Part of this research looks at move-on accommodation.

Housing: Low Incomes

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will require local authorities to increase the amount of affordable housing they provide.

Yvette Cooper: Local planning authorities can control the number, size and type of affordable housing built in their areas through the planning system. In support of this, we have been encouraging them to develop their strategic housing role, including the assessment of future needs for affordable housing.
	New supply of affordable housing is provided mainly by the Housing Corporation through the National Affordable Housing Programme and some is provided without grant by developers under S106. The Housing Corporation and individual Registered Social Landlords work closely with local authorities to deliver increased amounts of affordable housing. We have set ourselves the target of delivering 30,000 social rented units in 2007-08—a 50 per cent. increase on 2004-05 levels.
	In addition, we are also examining the scope for high performing local authorities and their ALMOs to build more social housing for retained ownership. This might entail partnerships between authorities, ALMOs and developers, using local authority land. Such schemes could complement development led by Registered Social Landlords where it provides value for money.

Housing: Repairs and Maintenance

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether Supporting People agencies have powers to commission home improvement agencies through competitive tendering.

Phil Woolas: Individual administering authorities are responsible for the local delivery of Supporting People services. The way in which they do this is a matter for them in accordance with the local needs and priorities set out in their Supporting People five-year strategy.
	Administering authorities have the discretion to enter into contracts with providers through competitive tendering for the provision of home improvement agency services but they are not obliged to do so. In some cases, administering authorities provide these services on an in-house basis.

Housing: Repairs and Maintenance

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the budget was of each Supporting People Agency in each of the last three years.

Phil Woolas: Communities and Local Government (CLG) allocate Supporting People funding to 150 administering authorities and not to an agency. Administering authorities have responsibility for developing, delivering and monitoring the Supporting People programme locally based on local needs and priorities set out in their Supporting People five-year strategy.
	Funding allocations to individual authorities in 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 are published on the Supporting People website at www.spkweb.org.uk All administering authorities also receive an administration grant from CLG, which contributes towards the cost of running (for example, data collection and maintaining an effective IT system) the Supporting People programme.

Housing: Swindon

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the Government grant to Swindon borough council for housing was in each year since 1990.

Phil Woolas: Central Government support to Swindon borough council for its housing capital investment programmes in the years for which we have comparable data was as follows.
	
		
			   £000 
			 1997-98 2,110 
			 1998-99 1,333 
			 1999-2000 1,508 
			 2000-01 5,147 
			 2001-02 2,115 
			 2002-03 2,178 
			 2003-04 1,953 
			 2004-05 1,636 
			 2005-06 3,708 
			 2006-07 1,380 
			 2007-08 1,408

Local Government

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what powers local authorities which already have all-out elections would have to establish single member wards under the provisions of the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill.

Ruth Kelly: We stated in the White Paper that we will enable any council that holds whole council elections to request that the Electoral Commission undertakes a review for the purpose of re-warding the area with single member wards. It is our intention, during the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill's remaining Parliamentary stages, to introduce by amendment the necessary provisions into that Bill.

Local Government Executive

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what estimate she has made of the expenditure implications of the creation of directly-elected executives in a local authority.

Ruth Kelly: An assessment of the costs of implementing all of the proposals in the White Paper "Strong and prosperous communities" including directly elected executives, was published in the regulatory impact assessment on 26 October 2006.

Local Government Finance

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will take steps to introduce a cap per head of population on floor damping reduction.

Phil Woolas: The minimum guaranteed formula grant increase from one year to the next, known as the floor, has to be paid for from within the total formula grant available. Our current method of paying for the floor, scaling back increases in grant above the floor, was the most widely supported when we last consulted on this in 2005. We are currently reviewing the distribution of formula grant for the next three year settlement, from 2008-09 to 2010-11.

Local Government: Pay

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and local Government what the average salary is of a local authority chief executive.

Ruth Kelly: My Department does not collect this information. Information on chief executives' pay can be obtained from the local government employers' website (http://www.lge.gov.uk).

Local Government: Reform

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether the portfolio of a member of a directly elected executive could be changed by the leader of the council after the election of that executive under her proposals for reform of local government.

Ruth Kelly: The Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill provides that executive leaders may allocate, and at any time reallocate, portfolios as they think fit.

Lyons Inquiry

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions she has had with the Home Secretary on the Lyons report.

Phil Woolas: Government Ministers have discussions with their colleagues on a broad range of issues.

Non-Domestic Rates: Broadband

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions she has had with other Government Departments on the potential impact on the Government's digital strategy of making local loop unbundling operators subject to non-domestic rates liability for unbundled local loops; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 23 October 2006,  Official Report, column 1687W, by my hon. Friend the Minister for Industry and the Regions to the hon. Member for Mid-Worcestershire (Peter Luff).

Planning Permission

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the timetable is for the National Planning Application Register to hold 100 per cent. of all planning applications and decisions.

Ruth Kelly: There is no timetable as the proposal for the National Planning Application Register is still at the feasibility testing stage and the Government have yet to take a decision on whether and how to take it forward.

Regional Government: Manpower

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by each regional Government office in England in  (a) 1997 and  (b) 2006.

Ruth Kelly: The number of permanent, fixed term and casual staff working for each Government office for the regions, including those temporarily away from the office on secondment, loan, maternity leave, career break and special leave without pay, in March of each year, was as follows. Full-time equivalent (FTE) figures are not available for 1997:
	
		
			   March 1997  March 2006 
			   Headcount  FTE  Headcount  FTE 
			 GO East 182 — 278 267.4 
			 GO East Midlands 234 — 280 270.0 
			 GO London 274 — 313 307.6 
			 GO North East 284 — 317 302.5 
			 GO North West(1) 428 — 372 357.2 
			 GO South East 224 — 319 299.3 
			 GO South West 139 — 325 309.2 
			 GO West Midlands 336 — 301 286.7 
			 GO Yorkshire and Humber 288 — 294 280.7 
			 Total GO network 2,389 — 2,799 2,680.6 
			 (1) For 1997 figures include staff in Government office for Merseyside, which was merged with GO North West on 1 April 1998. 
		
	
	Since March 2006, the total number of staff has fallen to 2,450 (2,353 FTE) in February 2007 and is expected to fall to about 200 by December 2008.
	In 1997 the Government office network represented the interests of four Whitehall Departments. Today the network delivers on behalf of 10 Departments.

Unitary Councils

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what plans she has for further waves of bids for unitary status.

Ruth Kelly: We have given councils in two-tier areas a short window of opportunity to make proposals for unitary status. We have no plans to launch a further round of reorganisation.

Unitary Councils

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what criteria she has specified for assessing the business cases put forward for unitary authority status.

Phil Woolas: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 19 December 2006,  Official Report, column 1818W.

Unitary Councils

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whom she has appointed as independent auditors to assess unitary authority bids.

Phil Woolas: The assessment process, set out in the Invitation to Councils in England which we published alongside the White Paper, provides that financial cases underpinning the proposals that proceed to stakeholder consultation will be subject to limited assurance in relation to the submission of baseline figures to be carried out by the Audit Commission.

Unitary Councils

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when she expects  (a) the bids for unitary status to undergo assessment and  (b) reports on these assessments to be published.

Phil Woolas: Proposals for future unitary structures are currently being assessed against the criteria set out in the Invitation to Councils in England which we published alongside the White Paper. We intend to announce our decisions on which proposals should proceed to stakeholder consultation before 27 March, the day for publication of the notice of election for the forthcoming local government elections.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Respect Task Force

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the work of the Respect Task Force; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The Respect Task Force works across Government and published the Respect Action Plan in January 2006 in which it set out an ambitious programme of work to build a modern culture of respect. One year on, good progress is being made, as documented by the progress report recently published.

Gun Crime

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the prevalence of gun crime in England and Wales.

Tony McNulty: Gun crime (including air weapons) has increased since 1997; there has been a decrease in the total number of firearms offences over the last two years, from 24,094 in 2002-03 to 22,896 in 2004-05 and 21,521 in 2005-06. There were 50 homicides involving firearms (including air weapons) in 2005-06, a decrease of 36 per cent. from 78 the previous year and the lowest recorded since 1998-99.

Custodial Sentences

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of custodial sentences.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The report 'Re-offending of adults: results from the 2003 cohort' shows that for this cohort the two-year re-offending rate for adults is 57.6 per cent.—2.3 per cent. below the predicted rate calculated from the 2000 baseline. For custodial sentences it is 65.8 per cent. which is higher than for non-custodial sentences at 53.4 per cent. though the disposal given depends upon the characteristics of the offender which will also affect the chances of re-offending.

Bail Act

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with the Solicitor-General and the Minister for Constitutional Affairs on the operation of the Bail Act 1976.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The operation of the Bail Act is kept under continuous review by the criminal justice departments with the aims of ensuring that appropriate decisions are made as to whether to release a defendant on bail or remand in custody, and of improving the processes which underpin the management of bail when granted. The 'Rebalancing the Criminal Justice System' Review published last July included a range of commitments to ensure that defendants who breach bail are returned to court quickly and dealt with robustly.

Teenage Drug Use

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to ensure that teenagers are aware of the possible dangers associated with drug use.

Vernon Coaker: Since 2003 FRANK, the Government funded drug awareness campaign, has reached out to young people, their parents and carers, with a range of innovative national and local communications providing credible drug advice and information. We have also launched 'Understanding Drugs' as a new resource to all secondary schools to support drugs education programmes. In addition we continue to work across Government to ensure that drug education in schools is effective at building awareness of the harm caused by drugs as well as engaging and supporting those groups of young people most vulnerable to developing drug problems.

Prisons: Drug Usage

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to reduce the level of drug usage in prisons.

Gerry Sutcliffe: To tackle drug-use in custody, NOMS has in place a comprehensive drug strategy. The strategy's three key aims are to: reduce the amount of illicit drugs getting in—by using a co-ordinated range of supply reduction measures; reduce the demand for drugs—through delivery of effective drug treatment; and strengthen through-care links with the community, helping ensure timely continuity of care for drug-users on release. While NOMS remains committed to doing more, the drug strategy is already making significant progress, with drug-use—as measured by random mandatory drug testing—down from 24.4 per cent. in 1996-97 to 10.3 per cent. in 2004-05; a reduction of 58 per cent.

Cocaine

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of cocaine users in  (a) 1997 and  (b) 2006.

Vernon Coaker: We do not have a figure for 1997, however we know that while the number of users of cocaine powder increased significantly, to about 769,000 in 2005-06, use of amphetamines decreased and overall use of stimulant drugs has remained stable over this period.

Young Offender Institutions

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of inmates of young offender institutions are remand prisoners.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The January prison statistics show that 2 per cent. of people in young offender institutes were unsentenced (either awaiting trial or convicted but awaiting sentencing) and held under prison-rules.

Young Offender Institutions

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many 2052SH forms were opened in respect of each young offender institution in  (a) 2003,  (b) 2004,  (c) 2005,  (d) 2006 and  (e) 2007 to date; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: This information is not collated centrally in the requested format and could be obtained only at a disproportionate cost.

Crime and Antisocial Behaviour

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what role he plans for family intervention in helping reduce crime and antisocial behaviour; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: As part of the respect programme the Government have committed to establish a network of family intervention projects across England. Evidence shows that these projects are effective in reducing antisocial behaviour of the small number of families who can be responsible for significant amounts of antisocial behaviour in their community.

Drug-related Crime

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of measures to combat drug-related crime.

Vernon Coaker: The most recent published crime figures show that the strategy is working: recorded acquisitive crime, to which drug-related crime makes a substantial contribution, has fallen by 20 per cent. since the onset of the drug interventions programme (DIP) (the 12 months to March 2003).
	The drug interventions programme (DIP) is now getting on average over 3,000 drug misusing offenders into drug treatment each month.
	The Home Office is carrying out an ongoing research programme to look at the effectiveness of individual programme components.

Prisoner Literacy

Dari Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for Education and Skills to improve the literacy of prisoners.

Gerry Sutcliffe: As part of the cross-Government plan to reduce re-offending, the strategy for improving skills outcomes for offenders was set out in the Green Paper 'Reducing Re-Offending Through Skills and Employment'. This followed and builds on the work of the Learning and Skills Council in rolling out its new Offender Learning and Skills Service nationally from July 2006. The plans outlined in the Green Paper are being taken forward in 'Reducing Re-offending Through Skills and Employment: Next Steps', published in December 2006 which furthers the focus on developing offender skills resulting in more obtaining sustainable employment.

Immigration Removal Centres

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the capacity of immigration centres.

Liam Byrne: The adequacy of the capacity of Immigration Removal Centres is assessed on an ongoing basis. We will open a new purpose built centre at Gatwick next year and we are currently considering a range of other options to further develop the estate.

Cannabis Farms

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he  (a) is taking and  (b) plans to take to tackle cannabis farms; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: The Home Office has supported the national police crackdown on cannabis factories. Operation Keymer, which ran from 25 September until 5 October 2006, was one part of ongoing work taking place across the country to identify and close down these factories, while improving police knowledge and understanding of the trade through activity-led intelligence gathering.
	ACPO is co-ordinating the police response to the emerging issue of cannabis factories and police forces are continuing to close down cannabis factories where identified.

Anti-Semitic Crimes

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many successful prosecutions there were for anti-Semitic crimes in England and Wales in 2006.

Tony McNulty: We are committed to tackling all hate crimes including those motivated by anti-Semitism. This information is not currently available, but we have made improvements to the way we collect data and expect to have it from April 2008.
	Monitoring the figures will enable us to understand the extent and nature of all hate crimes and to be able to respond more effectively, for example by changing beat times or places.

Asylum Seekers

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of measures to deport failed asylum applicants.

Liam Byrne: The effectiveness of measures deployed to remove failed asylum seekers is assessed on an ongoing basis. These measures have ensured that the removal of failed asylum seekers has been steadily increasing over the past few years.

Community Service Volunteers

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 7 March 2007,  Official Report, columns 2043-44W, on community service volunteers, what public protection measures have been agreed.

Gerry Sutcliffe: All prisoners who undertake placements are subject to the conditions for release on temporary licence which pay full regard to issues of public protection. Prisons and placement organisations complete a full risk assessment including appropriate CRB checks. As an additional safeguard, the revised memorandum puts in place further public protection measures that ensure that the probation office in the placement area is notified and that the offender manager will highlight any risk issues that have been identified and will inform the police and/or the prison when appropriate.

Community Support Officers: Protective Clothing

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 19 February 2007,  Official Report, column 94W, on community support officers protective clothing, what representations he has received from representatives of police community support officers on the issuing of protective equipment.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 27 February 2007
	We have received a number of representations about the issue of protective equipment to police community support officers(PCSOs), but none from representatives of PCSOs. The decision on the equipment of PCSOs in each force remains a matter for chief officers.

Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence Directorate

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how often he holds meetings with the Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence Directorate.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 8 March 2007
	My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary(Dr. John Reid) holds regular meetings with officials from the Home Office's Counter-Terrorism and Intelligence Directorate.

Crime: Computers

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) prosecutions were brought and  (b) convictions obtained in the last five years for offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990.

Vernon Coaker: The information requested, taken from the court proceedings database held by the Office for Criminal Justice Reform, is provided in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of defendants proceeded against at magistrates' courts and found guilty at all courts for offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990, England and Wales 2001-2005( 1,2) 
			2001  2002  2003 
			  Offence description  Principal statute  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty 
			 Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offences Computer Misuse Act 1990 S.2 4 3 6 5 9 3 
			 Unauthorised modification of computer material(3) Computer Misuse Act 1990 S.3 12 12 8 7 3 1 
			 Unauthorised access to computer material Computer Misuse Act 1990 S.1 9 9 4 2 7 1 
		
	
	
		
			2004  2005 
			  Offence description  Principal statute  Found guilty  Proceeded against  Found guilty  Proceeded against 
			 Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of further offences Computer Misuse Act 1990 S.2 6 2 11 7 
			 Unauthorised modification of computer material(3) Computer Misuse Act 1990 S.3 10 7 8 5 
			 Unauthorised access to computer material Computer Misuse Act 1990 .1 5 3 5 4 
			 (1) These data are provided on the principal offence basis.  (2) Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts and police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.  3 Data for Essex police force area for this offence in 2001 show 7 convictions for which there are no prosecutions. These data have been omitted from the table.   Source:  RDS - Office for Criminal Justice Reform

Crime: Internet

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much was allocated to each police force for combating e-crime in 2006-07; and what the proposed allocation for 2007-08 is.

Tony McNulty: Total Government funding for the police in England and Wales for 2006-07 was £9.3 billion. In addition, specific pump priming funding of £26,200 was provided to each police force in England and Wales to help expand their computer crime teams.
	The Government have announced total Government grant allocations to police forces in England and Wales for 2007-08 of £9.6 billion. Police spending on computer crime teams is expected to be funded from overall resources available and is a matter for each chief constable.

Departments: Written Questions

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the policy of his Department is on providing substantive answers to named day questions on the appropriate named day.

Tony McNulty: The Department endeavours to answer all named day questions with a substantive reply on the named day. For certain questions this is not possible and hon. Members are provided with a holding reply until a substantive reply can be provided.

Drugs

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress his Department is making in tackling the availability of Class A drugs; and if he will make a statement.

Vernon Coaker: The Government's strategy is to bear down on all points in the drug supply chain to disrupt criminal gangs, stifle drug supply and reduce the harm caused to communities in the UK.
	Latest figures available show that in 2005-06 over 2,200 kg of heroin and 15,300 kg of cocaine were taken out of the supply chain, 193 trafficking groups were disrupted or dismantled and £30 million of drug-related criminal assets were seized, depriving dealers of their financial lifeblood.

Drugs: Misuse

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of  (a) crack cocaine and  (b) opiate users with dependent children.

Vernon Coaker: The Home Office-commissioned estimates of the number of problem opiate and crack users do not contain any information about individuals and their parental status. However, the Advisory Council of Misuse of Drugs in their report 'Hidden Harm' estimated that in the UK there were between 250,000 and 350,000 children of problem drug users in 2003. Since the publication of that report changes have been made to several monitoring systems to improve the information available, which will allow us to produce an updated estimate in the future. In particular the core dataset for the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System for England was updated from April 2006 and all treatment service providers are now required to record information on whether users in treatment have dependent children and whether the child(ren) are living with the person in treatment or with others.

Foreign National Prisoners

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 13 March 2007,  Official Report, column 104W, on foreign national prisoners, what estimate he has made of the  (a) cost to the public purse and  (b) time which would be required to cross-reference the electronic records held by the Immigration and Nationality Directorate of the offences committed by the foreign nationals released from HMP Peterborough in the last 12 months to 31 March 2007 with the prisoner discharge records held manually at HMP Peterborough; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: As I previously outlined in my answers to the hon. Gentleman, the requested information on the offences committed by foreign nationals released from HMP Peterborough in the last 12 months to 31 March 2006 could be obtained only by exceeding the £600 cost limit for answering parliamentary questions.

Frontex

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what role the United Kingdom plays in the European Union's border management agency Frontex; and what the Government's policy is on the future development of Frontex.

Joan Ryan: The UK strongly supports the EU Border Agency (Frontex). The UK has provided funding, operational planning and training to Frontex, as well as joining a number of Frontex operations. We will continue to participate in Frontex operations where there is benefit for the UK and the rest of the EU. We are keen to strengthen Frontex and see it develop in future.

Internet: Crime

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department under which legislation prosecutions may be made of those found guilty of uploading video content onto the internet containing  (a) criminal damage,  (b) physical assaults and  (c) vandalism.

Vernon Coaker: Uploading videos of a criminal offence is not necessarily itself a criminal offence It will be a criminal offence if it amounts to inciting the offence involved, or if it involves the publication of obscene material. UK based Internet service providers take a responsible approach to the contents they host. Most have acceptable use policies which enable them to remove content from the site that is distasteful, even if it is not necessarily illegal.

Internet: Crime

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions he has had with the Internet Watch Foundation on video clips on websites which show  (a) violence and physical assaults and  (b) criminal damage.

Vernon Coaker: The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) is the only authorised organisation in the UK operating an internet 'hotline' for the public to report their exposure to potentially illegal content online. Its aim is to minimise the availability of potentially illegal internet content, specifically child abuse images hosted anywhere in the world; criminally obscene content hosted in the UK; and incitement to racial hatred content hosted in the UK. While we work closely with the IWF on these issues, we have not had any discussions with it about video clips on websites which show violence, physical assaults or criminal damage as these issues are outside of its remit.
	In terms of industry regulation, the vast majority of the UK internet industry takes a responsible approach to what content it hosts, both of its own volition and in co-operation with law enforcement and Government agencies. Where the industry is advised that content it hosts contravenes UK legislation, it will remove it. In addition, internet service providers (ISPs) also have contracts with their customers concerning what may be hosted on their servers called acceptable use policies (AUPs), which allow them to remove offensive or objectionable material, even if it is not illegal. Anyone concerned about the contents of a website should approach the relevant ISP hosting the site and ask it to consider whether it breaches its AUP.

Metropolitan Police: Finance

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much funding per head of the population in London the Metropolitan police force received for  (a) local,  (b) regional and  (c) national policing purposes in each of the last five years.

Tony McNulty: The Police Grant Settlement 2007-08 is based on the police funding formula which provides an assessment of the relative need of each police force in England and Wales. This assessment is based on the social characteristics of each police authority, including its population, which are considered to affect the level of demand for police services in the community. The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) also receives a range of specific grants to reflect its local and national responsibilities.
	The MPS continues to receive an annual special payment as part of its police grant, in recognition of its unique capital city and national functions.
	Details for the last five years are set out in the table.
	
		
			  Metropolitan Police Service funding 2003-04 to 2007-08 
			   million 
			   General grant  Specific grants  Total 
			 2003-04 1,764.1 288.3 2,052.4 
			 2004-05 1,822.0 311.1 2,133.1 
			 2005-06 1,763.6 490.9 2,254.5 
			 2006-07 1,823.5 558.9 2,382.4 
			 2007-08 1,883.7 578.4 2,462.1 
			  Notes:  1. Prior to 2006-07 pensions and security arrangements were included within General Grant. General Grant figure for 2005-06 has been adjusted to allow direct comparison with 2006-07.  2. The MPS continues to receive an annual special payment as part of its police grant in recognition of its unique capital city and national functions. This was 192 million in 2007-08.

Police: Criminal Investigation

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what percentage of police officers were subject to criminal investigation in the last year for which figures are available.

Tony McNulty: The Home Office does not collect the information requested.

Police: Culture and Recruitment

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department provides guidance to police forces on the suitability of recruits who follow cultural practices which require them not to shake hands with certain members of the public or otherwise behave in a way which makes it difficult for them fully to engage with members of the public; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: My right hon. Friend the Home Secretary has issued no guidance on this issue.

Police: Freedom of Information

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many Freedom of Information requests to each police authority in England and Wales have not received a statutory response within 21 days.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 13 March 2007
	It is for each individual relevant public authority to comply with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Police: Gloucestershire

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fully qualified police officers are on duty in the South Gloucestershire district on a typical Friday evening.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 March 2007
	The deployment of police officers to the basic command units of Avon and Somerset constabulary is an operational matter for the chief constable.

Police: Interpreters

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the Metropolitan Police Service's budget was spent on interpretation services for suspects in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Tony McNulty: The expenditure on interpretation services is a matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.

Police: Interpreters

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the impact of interpreters' fees upon police resources; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: The information for all police forces in England and Wales is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The expenditure on interpreters is a matter for the chief officer of each constabulary.

Police: Lancashire

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers were employed by Lancashire police each year since 1997.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 14 March 2007
	I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to the hon. Member for Chorley (Mr. Hoyle) on 9 March 2007,  Official Report, column 2170.

Police: Modernisation

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the outcome was of his meeting on 5 March with police forces from England and Wales on the development of the Work Force Modernisation Project.

Tony McNulty: A number of police forces and authorities expressing an interest in the workforce modernisation programme were present at the meeting. They were asked to provide confirmation of their commitment to become a demonstrator site by 16 March 2007. Once these are collated the programme team, under the authority of the Association of Chief Police Officers with the Association of Police Authorities and the Home Office, will consider each application and inform the successful forces.

Police: Pensions

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what estimate he has made of the potential annual cost of extending the survivor benefits of the new Police Pension Scheme to the spouses and civil partners of officers who died whilst on duty and who are in the old Police Pension Scheme;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the number of  (a) spouses and  (b) civil partners of police officers who have died while on duty who would lose their survivor benefits under the Police Pension Scheme were they to remarry or cohabit.

Tony McNulty: Under the provisions for police injury benefits, which are not dependent on pension scheme membership, a special or augmented pension of up to half the officer's pensionable pay is payable to a surviving spouse or civil partner where the officer dies as a result of an injury received without their own default in the execution of their duty as a constable. Under the Police Pension Scheme 1987 (old scheme) an ordinary pension of up to one third the officer's pensionable pay is payable to a surviving spouse or civil partner where the officer dies in service, whether or not they were on duty at the time.
	Police pensions and police injury benefits are administrated locally by the police authority for the force concerned and details of the number of surviving spouses and civil partners of officers who died while on duty and of the cost of their pensions are not held centrally. However, it is estimated that in the region of 400 surviving spouses are in receipt of a special or augmented pension in the UK. About half of this number are in respect of police officers who died in Northern Ireland. No separate estimate has been made of the number of surviving civil partners in receipt of such a pension but the estimate given for spouses can still be taken to include civil partners in view of the relatively short time since the start of civil partnerships.
	The Government Actuary's Department has estimated that the capitalised extra cost of making these pensions life-long to be between 10 million and 20 million. This estimate is indicative only since it is subject to a considerable degree of uncertainty. The capital cost would manifest itself in additional cash expenditure over a period of decades peaking in 10 to 20 years' time. This cost only relates to survivor pensions currently in payment. There would also be additional costs relating to pensions to spouses and civil partners of police officers who die in the future as result of an injury received in the execution of their duty. The cost does not include the reinstatement of any pension that has already ceased on remarriage, formation of a civil partnership or cohabitation, or the backdating of any such restored pension.
	The Government Actuary's Department has also estimated the capitalised extra cost of making all survivor pensions life-long where they are payable upon an officer's death in service (i.e. ordinary pensions as well as special and augmented pensions) to be between 50 million to 100 million.

Police: Recruitment

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment he has made of the ability of police forces to recruit Criminal Investigation Department officers.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 13 March 2007
	Recruitment of police officers to Criminal Investigation Departments is a matter for the chief constables of individual police forces.

Prisoners: Females

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps his Department is taking to ensure that communication is maintained between female prisoners and their families who live  (a) in the UK and  (b) overseas.

Gerry Sutcliffe: There is a statutory entitlement to social visits and correspondence. Social visitors who are United Kingdom residents may qualify for financial assistance. Contact may also be maintained by telephone. Foreign nationals or those with close family abroad who have not received a social visit within the preceding month may also receive a five minute telephone call at public expense. Family contact for all prisoners, in particular women with children, is supported by local arrangements.

Prisoners: Telephones

Lorely Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what factors determine the price of international telephone calls charged to prisoners; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Negotiations between the Home Office and the prisoner telephone contractors, which are commercially in confidence, determine the price of international telephone calls charged to prisoners.

Prisons: Islam

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what vetting procedures prison imams undergo prior to employment; and whether they have been revised since 2001.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Imams are subject to the same checks as those for all chaplains and include checks on: identity; proof of address; entitlement to work in the UK; criminal record check; references; qualifications, endorsement from the relevant faith adviser and national security vetting. Security vetting procedures are kept under review and a number of enhancements have been made since 2001.

Prisons: Religion

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what facilities are offered to non-Christian worshippers in HM prisons; and what the costs of these facilities were in each of the last five years.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Prison Service policy is to enable those prisoners who wish, to practise their religion. The Prison Service Performance Standard on Religion (No. 51) and the Prison Service Order on Religion (4550) sets out the more detailed policy and includes specific information on the provision necessary for the practice of the main world faiths, including Islam. Copies of Prison Service orders are kept in the House Library and both Prison Service orders and performance standards are also published on the Prison Service website (www.hmprisons.gov.uk). The requested information on costs is not available.

Road Traffic Control: Eastern Region

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) traffic enforcement officers,  (b) traffic wardens and  (c) council parking attendants were operating in (i) Suffolk, (ii) Bedfordshire, (iii) Cambridgeshire, (iv) Essex, (v) Hertfordshire, (vi) Norfolk, (vii) St. Edmundsbury borough council area and (viii) Mid Suffolk district council area in each year since 1997.

Tony McNulty: Data for the numbers of traffic wardens and traffic enforcement officers are not centrally collected at the district or borough level, however data for the numbers of traffic wardens and for the numbers of officers whose primary function is traffic are collected at force level and are given in the tables. There has over the years been a transfer of responsibility for traffic wardens from the police to local authorities.
	Data on the number of council parking attendants are not collected centrally.
	
		
			  Traffic warden strength as at 31 March 1997 to 31 March 2006 (FTE)( 1) 
			   31 March 
			   1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006 
			 Bedfordshire 31 26 10 9 3 3 2 2 0 0 
			 Cambridgeshire 39 33 38 35 38 36 35 17 0 0 
			 Essex 136 123 121 102 82 59 38 21 8 7 
			 Hertfordshire 72 55 44 38 45 42 38 9 0 0 
			 Norfolk 43 43 40 37 33 34 33 31 28 26 
			 Suffolk 33 32 33 31 29 29 25 25 20 18 
			 (1) Full-time equivalent figures rounded to the nearest whole number. Figures up to 31 March 2002 exclude staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. The figures for 31 March 2003 onwards include those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.

Special Constables: Recruitment

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the target of recruiting 14,000 special constables by March 2007 has been met; and if he will make a statement.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 9 March 2007
	The Police Service Strength statistical bulletin published on 26 July 2006 shows that on 31 March 2006 there were 13,179 special constables in England and Wales. Figures for 31 March 2007 will be published in July this year.

Stop and Search

Nick Herbert: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) stop and account and  (b) stop and search forms were completed by each police force in England and Wales in the last year for which figures are available.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 23 February 2007
	The last year for which figures are available for stop and searches are 2004-05 and are shown in the following table below. These figures reflect the number of stop and searches recorded by each police force area in relation to powers under section one of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, and other legislation; section 60 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994; section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
	From 1 April 2005, police forces have been required to collect figures on the recording of encounters by police officers in accordance with paragraphs 4.11 - 4.20 of the PACE code of practice on exercise by police officers of statutory powers of stop and search (Code A). Issues relating to the quality and completeness of the 2005-06 figures mean they remain subject to further work before they can be published by the Home Office, however police forces are able to use their data for local accountability.
	
		
			  'Stop and searches' of persons under s1 of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, and other legislation, 2004-05 
			  Police force area  Total 
			 Avon and Somerset 17,897 
			 Bedfordshire 3,507 
			 Cambridgeshire 5,328 
			 Cheshire 13,536 
			 Cleveland 14,367 
			 Cumbria 5,702 
			 Derbyshire 10,592 
			 Devon and Cornwall 21,096 
			 Dorset 6,160 
			 Durham 9,317 
			 Essex 8,131 
			 Gloucestershire 4,018 
			 Greater Manchester 58,118 
			 Hampshire 24,336 
			 Hertfordshire 12,083 
			 Humberside 6,159 
			 Kent 11,482 
			 Lancashire 21,642 
			 Leicestershire 13,597 
			 Lincolnshire 6,878 
			 London, City of 6,915 
			 Merseyside 21,354 
			 Metropolitan Police 237,104 
			 Norfolk 6,345 
			 Northamptonshire 7,123 
			 Northumbria 24,698 
			 North Yorkshire 3,832 
			 Nottinghamshire 4,318 
			 South Yorkshire 24,151 
			 Staffordshire 19,525 
			 Suffolk 4,274 
			 Surrey 9,755 
			 Sussex 12,312 
			 Thames Valley 20,542 
			 Warwickshire 5,713 
			 West Mercia 9,327 
			 West Midlands 30,119 
			 West Yorkshire 74,256 
			 Wiltshire 4,648 
			 Dyfed-Powys 8,316 
			 Gwent 6,059 
			 North Wales 11,899 
			 South Wales 13,446 
			   
			 England and Wales 839,977 
			  Note: Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by police forces. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Vandalism

David Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many instances of vandalism were reported in  (a) England,  (b) Suffolk,  (c) Bedfordshire,  (d) Cambridgeshire,  (e) Essex,  (f) Hertfordshire and  (g) Norfolk in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: The available information relates to offences of criminal damage recorded by the police and the information is in the tables.
	
		
			  Table 1: Offences of criminal damage recorded by the police1997 
			   Number 
			 England 822,029 
			 Suffolk 7,835 
			 Bedfordshire 8,025 
			 Cambridgeshire 9,250 
			 Essex 18,845 
			 Hertfordshire 9,831 
			 Norfolk 9,782 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Offences of criminal damage recorded by the police1998-99 to 2001-02 
			  Number 
			   1998-99  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02 
			 England 823,520 890,756 906,800 1,007,634 
			 Suffolk 7,898 9,547 10,150 12,095 
			 Bedfordshire 7,893 8,048 7,892 8,191 
			 Cambridgeshire 11,925 12,110 13,197 13,972 
			 Essex 18,834 21,766 24,673 26,990 
			 Hertfordshire 10,177 11,560 13,839 15,302 
			 Norfolk 10,393 10,978 11,481 13,065 
			  Note:  1. The coverage was extended and counting rules revised from 1998-99. Figures from that date are not directly comparable with those for 1997.  2. The data in this table is prior to the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard. These figures are not directly comparable with those for later years. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Offences of criminal damage recorded by the police2002-03 to 2005-06 
			  Number 
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			 England 1,043,197 1,139,308 1,121,057 1,107,752 
			 Suffolk 11,497 12,817 12,781 13,067 
			 Bedfordshire 10,050 11,065 10,561 10,817 
			 Cambridgeshire 16,153 16,534 16,227 14,680 
			 Essex 30,337 34,253 32,406 30,564 
			 Hertfordshire 17,988 19,887 20,762 20,986 
			 Norfolk 16,030 17,462 17,470 17,577 
			  Note:  The data in this table takes account of the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These figures are not directly comparable with those for earlier years.

Young Offenders: Mental Health Services

Justine Greening: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many young offenders were referred to  (a) acute local child and adolescent mental health services and  (b) non-acute local child and adolescent mental health services in each year since 2002; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Referrals to child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) by youth offending teams for each year since 2002 
			   Acute  Non-acute 
			 2002 510 2,052 
			 2003 936 6,427 
			 2004 833 6,102 
			 2005 689 5,937 
			 2006 525 6,440 
			  Source: Youth Justice Board. 
		
	
	A combined screening and assessment method for mental health, physical health and substance misuse of young people in the young peoples estate is currently in development and planning for the implementation stage is under way. This project is supported by a cross- departmental working group of National Treatment Agency, Youth Justice Board, Prison Health and Prison Service Women and Young People Group.
	A new framework Promoting Mental Health for Children held in Secure Settings: A Framework for Commissioning Services, developed in partnership by the Department of Health, Home Office, Youth Justice Board and Department for Education and Skills, will be launched this month and will set out best practice guidelines for commissioning services for children in secure settings.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Advertising

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much his Department spent on advertising with  The Guardian newspaper, including online, in the last year for which figures are available.

Alan Johnson: Newspaper advertising for the Department is done via the Central Office of Information (COI) and the information provided covers all newspaper advertising. The COI does not hold information specifically on advertising space in  The Guardian newspaper.
	The total spent by the Department on all newspaper advertising, across a number of different campaigns, using different newspapers is:
	 Financial year
	2005-06
	 Cost
	1.50 million

Apprentices

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many people who passed the complete framework for  (a) apprenticeships and  (b) advanced apprenticeships also achieved a technical certificate as part of their apprenticeship course in each year between 1997 and 2006.

Phil Hope: holding answer 14 March 2007
	These data are not held in the form specified. The data collected measure those who complete all elements required of the particular framework undertaken. However, since 2001 separately assessed underpinning knowledge has been a compulsory part of apprenticeship frameworks. Up to 2005 this had to take the form of a technical certificate, even where there was duplication of content between qualifications. Therefore all apprentices completing in this period would have passed a technical certificate in order to complete the full framework. Since 2005 and following consultation, sector bodies have had the flexibility to deliver underpinning knowledge through an NVQ where it can be demonstrated to the Apprenticeship Approvals Group that this will remove duplication. So far the two major frameworks to integrate underpinning knowledge into the NVQ are in accountancy and hairdressing. Most of their learners will not yet have completed under the new arrangements.

Apprentices

Edward O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding his Department makes available for those over the age of 25 years for apprenticeships.

Phil Hope: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) has announced funding for 8,000 apprenticeship places for people over the age of 25 in 2007-08 at a cost of 16.7 million.

Art: Education

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the funding levels for fine art courses in  (a) further education,  (b) work-based learning,  (c) adult and community learning and  (d) sixth form colleges were in each year from 1997 to 2006; and what the budgeted levels of funding are in each of the next three years.

Bill Rammell: We have increased investment in further education by 48 per cent. in real terms between 1997 and 2005. Adult funding will increase by 7 per cent. between 2005-06 and 2007-08 with funding for young people increasing by 13 per cent. over the same period. This means that overall in 2007-08 through the LSC we will invest 11.2 billion, an increase of 716 million compared with 2006-07.
	Information on course subjects that learners are undertaking is available only from the LSC at the broad sector level. This does not allow for discrete subjects such as fine art to be identified, and therefore it is not possible to provide details on the level of funding for these courses.
	As the Department has not yet received it Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) settlement, I am not in a position to announce the funding levels for specific programmes during the CSR period.

Compensation Payments

John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much in compensation payments was paid by his Department in 2005-06; and what the reason was for each payment.

Parmjit Dhanda: Compensation payments made by the Department in 2005-06 were as follows:
	
		
			  Reason for payment  Payment amount () 
			 Damage to personal propertyclothing damaged by contaminated water flooding from pipes in ceiling 77.20 
			 Damage to personal propertymotorcycle helmet damaged when car park barrier came down on staff member's head 269.99 
			 Personal injuryinjury to neck when car park barrier came down on staff member's head. Physiotherapy treatment required. 210.00 
			 Road traffic accidentDfES driver collided with external third party in road traffic accident. Third party claim for repair of damages to vehicle and hire car costs 7,144.87 
			 Damage to personal propertyclothing damaged on sharp edge of desk 23.38 
			 Damage to personal propertywatch damaged by premature closing of lift doors 40.00 
			 Damage to personal propertyclothing damaged 16.24 
			 Road traffic accidentDfES driver collided with external third party in road traffic accident. Third party claim for repair of damages to vehicle 5,596.04 
			 Personal injuryDfES driver collided with external third party in road traffic accident. Personal injury claim from passenger in third party's vehicle. Compensation and medical costs sought 4,483.00 
			 Road traffic accidentDfES driver collided with external third party in road traffic accident. Third party claim for repair of damages to vehicle 364.62 
			 Personal injuryinjury to head and shoulders when whiteboard fell off wall and hit staff member. Compensation and medical costs sought 3,200.00 
			 Compensation for loss of interest due to delay in making an ex-gratia payment for loss of employment 412.67 
			 Compensation for unfair dismissal of a temporary employee following a ruling by the Civil Service Appeal Board 13,504.00 
			 Ex-gratia payment for loss of employment as part of a compromise agreement to settle a dispute and avoid subsequent litigation 13,400.00 
			 Total of compensation payments in 2005-06 48,742.01

Departmental Hospitality

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his Department's expenditure was on hospitality and entertainment in  (a) 1996-97 and  (b) 2005-06.

Alan Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given in my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's answer of 9 February 1998,  Official Report, column 17W, to the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire, which provides the global figure for Government expenditure on ministerial entertaining and hospitality for official purposes in 1996-97.
	The Department for Education and Skills' expenditure on entertainment by civil servants for 1996-97 was 24,000.
	The Department's expenditure covering civil servants' as well as ministerial costs on entertainment for 2005-06 was 20,000.

Departmental Staff

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many staff were employed on a consultancy basis in  (a) his Department and  (b) each of its agencies in each of the last five years for which information is available; and what the (i) average and (ii) longest period was for which a consultant was employed in each year.

Parmjit Dhanda: The number of consultants engaged by the Department is not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Staff

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many  (a) marketing officers,  (b) communication officers,  (c) press officers and  (d) promotional officers are employed in his Department; and what estimate he has made of the total expenditure on communications for the Department on (i) Government Information and Communication Service staff and (ii) other (A) press officers, (B) special advisers and (C) staff in the last year for which figures are available.

Alan Johnson: The number of staff involved in communications as at 1 March 2007 is as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 Press Officers 21 
			 Marketing Officers 37 
		
	
	It is not possible to break down expenditure by types of communications staff. There are no special advisers in the communications function.
	The total amount spent on advertising in 2005-06 was 8.3 million. This includes radio, TV and press advertising and is exclusive of VAT.

Departmental Travel

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what his Department's expenditure on foreign travel, including accommodation, was in  (a) 1996-97 and  (b) 2005-06.

Alan Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given in my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's answer on 19 December 2006,  Official Report, column 1808W, to a similar question from the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire, which refers to the published annual list of overseas visits by Cabinet Ministers which includes the overall cost of all Ministers' overseas travel.
	The Department for Education and Skills' expenditure on civil servants' foreign travel, including accommodation is set out in the following table. The figures are taken from the Department's financial systems.
	
		
			   Expenditure on foreign travel (000) 
			 1996-97 883 
			 2005-06 251

Departments: Discrimination

Edward O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps his Department has undertaken to ensure the implementation of age discrimination regulations across his Department.

Parmjit Dhanda: Equality of opportunity for all is of paramount importance within the Department and my officials have been pro-active in ensuring the age discrimination regulations are adhered to. In light of this the Department has considered and reviewed all the HR policies and processes that were in place prior to the implementation of the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006. That review led to us introducing, from 1 October 2006, a policy where we have no maximum retirement age for people outside the senior civil service, and procedures where there is no mention of a date of birth on applications, for example, for recruitment or promotion.
	Furthermore the Secretary of State and the Learning and Skills Council have both been involved in drawing the attention of the FE sector to the age legislation through correspondence with FE governing bodies and by issuing guidance to learning providers. Higher education institutions have been supported in this area by the Equality Challenge Unit, which is the sector body responsible for providing advice and guidance on equality issues to these bodies.

Departments: Electronic Government

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reason an individual must be at least 19 years of age to register with his Department's e-consultation website.

Phil Hope: Access to the Department's e-consultation website is open to all, whether or not they are registered with the site, and young people under 19 are able to participate in our e-consultations. Registration only means that the site retains individuals' details, enabling them to receive e-mail alerts about future consultations and giving the flexibility to partially complete a consultation and then return to it at a later date.
	Registration is limited to those aged 19 and over in order to ensure that personal data about children and young people is not held on the website, in compliance with the Data Protection Act. The system neither asks for, nor retains, any identification information from non registered users.
	The Department actively encourages children and young people to participate in consultation and engage with the Department, often producing young people's versions of consultation questionnaires. A recent example of this was the Young People's Guide to the Care Matters Green Paper in 2006; over 1,000 young people and children gave an input to this consultation.

Education Maintenance Allowance

David Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of young people in  (a) Penrith and The Border constituency,  (b) Cumbria,  (c) the North West and  (d) England received education maintenance allowance in each year since the scheme's inception; and how many received (i) 30, (ii) 20 and (iii) 10 a week in each case in each year.

Phil Hope: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate education maintenance allowance (EMA) for the DfES and hold the information about take-up and payments made under the scheme. Mark Haysom, the council's chief executive, has written to the hon. Member with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 12 March 2007:
	I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Question 124005 that asked: What percentage of young people in (a) Penrith and The Border constituency, (b) Cumbria, (c) the North West and (d) England received education maintenance allowance in each year since the scheme's inception; and how many received (i) 30, (ii) 20 and (iii) 10 a week in each case in each year.
	Information on the number of young people who have applied, enrolled and received Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is available at Local Authority Level, but not at constituency level. EMA take-up is defined as young people who have received one or more EMA payments in the academic year.
	The following tables show EMA take-up data split by payment band for Cumbria Local Authority area, the North West and England during each academic year since the scheme's inception.
	
		
			  Take-up of EMA in each academic year 
			   Band  
			   30  20  10  Total 
			  2004/05 
			 Cumbria 1,666 226 268 2,160 
			 North West 42,295 4,340 4,379 51,014 
			 England 242,262 27,398 27,599 297,259 
			  
			  2005/06 
			 Cumbria 2,985 405 358 3,748 
			 North West 58,732 5,771 4,363 68,866 
			 England 359,213 39,824 30,590 429,627 
			  
			  2006/07(1) 
			 Cumbria 3,505 500 471 4,476 
			 North West 66,975 7,391 6,386 80,752 
			 England 409,303 50,170 44,268 503,741 
			 (1 )To end February. 
		
	
	In the first year of national roll-out, EMA was available to all 16-years-old across England and to 17 and 18-year-olds in former pilot areas. (Young people aged 19 were entitled to receive EMA in certain circumstances.) In 2005/06 EMA roll-out continued and EMA was available to all 16 and 17-year-olds nationally. In 2006/07 EMA is available to all 16, 17 and 18-year-olds nationally. In calculating the percentage of young people receiving EMA only take-up and population figures for age groups where EMA was available nationally have been used.
	The following table shows the percentage of young people receiving EMA in Cumbria Local Authority area, the North West and England during each academic year since national roll-out.
	
		
			  Percentage of population receiving EMA in each academic year 
			   2004/05( 1')  2005/06( 2)  2006/07( 3, 4) 
			 Cumbria 32 27 23 
			 North West 46 42 36 
			 England 33 30 25 
			 (1)16-year-olds only (2 )16 and 17-year-olds. (3 )16, 17 and 18-year-olds. (4) To end January. 
		
	
	I hope this information is useful and addresses your question.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what percentage of young people in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) the UK received education maintenance allowance in each year since the scheme's inception;
	(2)  how many people in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) the UK received (i) 30, (ii) 20 and (iii) 10 a week in education maintenance allowance in each year since the scheme's inception.

Phil Hope: The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is a devolved matter. In England, this is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate EMA for the DFES and hold the information about take-up of the scheme. Mark Haysom, the Council's chief executive, has written to my hon. Friend with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 12 March 2007:
	I am writing in response to your parliamentary question 122059 and 122060 that asked:
	What percentage of young people in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) the UK received education maintenance allowance in each year since the scheme's inception and;
	How many people in  (a) Jarrow constituency,  (b) South Tyneside,  (c) the North East and  (d) the UK received (i) 30, (ii) 20 and (iii) 10 a week in education maintenance allowance in each year since the scheme's inception.
	EMA was piloted in 56 areas before launching the national scheme and South Tyneside local authority was a pilot area. The following data covers the start of the national roll out of EMA in the academic year 2004/05 and onwards.
	Information on the number of young people who have applied, enrolled and received education maintenance allowance (EMA) is available at local authority level, but not at constituency level. EMA take-up is defined as young people who have received one or more EMA payments in the academic year.
	The following tables show EMA take-up data split by payment band for South Tyneside local authority area, the North East and England during each academic year since national roll out.
	
		
			  Take-up of EMA in each academic year 
			  2004-05 
			   Band  
			   30  20  10  Total 
			 South Tyneside 1,353 126 157 1,636 
			 North East 15,698 1,753 1,958 19,409 
			 England 242,507 27,429 27,632 297,568 
		
	
	
		
			  2005-06 
			   Band  
			   30  20  10  Total 
			 South Tyneside 1,538 117 116 1,771 
			 North East 21,609 2,282 1,864 25,755 
			 England 359,792 39,892 30,643 430,327 
		
	
	
		
			  2006-07 to end January 
			   Band  
			   30  20  10  Total 
			 South Tyneside 1,681 169 136 1,986 
			 North East 24,559 2,867 2,593 30,019 
			 England 406,319 49,863 43,993 500,175 
		
	
	In the first year of national roll out EMA was available to all 16-years-olds across England and to 17 and 18-years-olds in former pilot areas (young people who are 19 are entitled to receive EMA in certain circumstances). In 2005-06 EMA roll out continued and EMA was available to all 16 and 17-year-olds nationally. In 2006/07 EMA is available to all 16, 17 and 18-year-olds nationally. In calculating the percentage of young people receiving EMA only take up and population figures for age groups where EMA was available nationally have been used.
	
		
			  Percentage of population receiving EMA in each academic year 
			   2004/05 (16-year-olds only)  2005/06 (16 and 17-year-olds)  2006/07 to end January (16, 17 and 18-year-olds) 
			 South Tyneside 39 36 32 
			 North East 38 35 29 
			 England 33 30 25

Education Maintenance Allowance

Jeff Ennis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many students claimed the education maintenance allowance in  (a) Barnsley and  (b) Doncaster in each of the last three years.

Phil Hope: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council, who operate EMA for the DfES and hold the information about take-up of the scheme. Mark Haysom, the Council's chief executive, has written to my hon. Friend with the information requested and a copy of his reply has been placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 12 March 2007:
	I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Question 122789 that asked; How many students claimed the Education Maintenance Allowance in (a) Barnsley and (b) Doncaster in each of the last three years?
	The following table shows Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) take-up for Barnsley and Doncaster Local Authority areas during each academic year since the introduction of the allowance. EMA take-up is defined as young people who have received one or more EMA payments in the academic year.
	
		
			  Take-up of EMA in each academic year 
			   2004/05  2005/06 ( 1) 2006/07 
			 Barnsley 1,821 2,071 2,463 
			 Doncaster 2,707 2,912 3,287 
			 (1) To end February 
		
	
	I hope this information is useful and addresses your question.

Education: Guardian Newspapers

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how much was spent by his Department on the 14 to 19 reforms supplement it sponsored in  The Guardian newspaper on 6 March;
	(2)  which civil servants within his Department contributed to the 14 to 19 reforms supplement in  The Guardian newspaper on 6 March.

Jim Knight: The Department spent 42,000 on  The Guardian Supplement covering the 14 to 19 reform programme. The 14 to 19 reforms will impact on a range of stakeholders and through the supplement we were able to inform head teachers, teachers and lecturers in schools and colleges, HE professionals, and the wider public about the reforms. We believe that this is good value for money as we were able to reach a large section of our target audience. As the 14 to 19 programme will require schools and colleges to collaborate in the future, and teaching of the diplomas will start from September 2008 we increasingly need to inform our target audiences about the reforms and the impact that they will have on them. We will therefore continue to promote the 14 to 19 reform programme across a range of news media over the next few months.
	Although civil servants within the 14 to 19 reform group briefed  The Guardian on the 14 to 19 reforms, the content of the supplement was written by Guardian journalists. As with most supplements of this nature officials from within the Department and across our partners were given the opportunity to correct factual errors within the final document. Final editorial control for the article was retained by  The Guardian.

Employment Schemes: Greater London

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to open the Train to Gain project in London to contestability by the private sector; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: Train to Gain is already contestable in London, as in all regions. This means that employers are given a choice of training providers, wherever possible, to help them meet their business needs on the basis of analysis carried out by brokers. Training providers may be sourced from the public or private sector.

Employment Schemes: Incentives

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure brokers under the Train to Gain programme are incentivised to arrange placements, rather than visits to employers which do not result in placements; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Hope: Train to Gain brokers are incentivised on the basis of employer engagements, rather than on visits. An employer is considered to be engaged where the broker has undertaken an analysis of training needs and identified suitable providers. The Learning and Skills Council is actively performance managing the organisations contracted to deliver the service to ensure their effectiveness and efficiency.

English Language

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which individuals are entitled to free tuition on Entry 1 and Entry 2 level English for Speakers of Other Languages Courses.

Phil Hope: The Learning and Skills Council sets out the eligibility criteria for fee remission in the funding guidance for further education, updated each year.
	Currently all English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision is fully funded, with free tuition for all learners. From August 2007/08 it is proposed that in order to receive fee remission an ESOL learner must fall into standard fee remission categories, for example, that they are in receipt of an income based benefit such as housing benefit.
	The fee remission categories are set out in paragraph 127 of the Funding guidance for further education in 2006/07 and include:
	unemployed people in receipt of Jobseeker's Allowance;
	those in receipt of income-based benefits, formerly known as means-tested benefits, the main income-based benefits are council tax benefit, housing benefit, income support and jobseeker's allowance (income-based);
	those in receipt of working tax credit with a household income of less than 15,050;
	those in receipt of pension credits-guarantee credit;
	the unwaged dependants (as defined by Jobcentre Plus) of those listed above.
	My hon. Friend the Minister for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning has considered the impact of the proposed changes to ESOL funding following the race equality impact assessment (REIA) and he is minded to consider a range of new measures to reprioritise funding towards the most vulnerable. These are:
	Reinstating eligibility for those asylum seekers who are in the UK legally and whose claims are not resolved within six months;
	Reinstating eligibility for those asylum seekers who are unable to return or be returned to their country of origin for circumstances beyond their control and who are eligible for section 4 support;
	Prioritising funding at local level through the Learning and Skills Council's Learner Hardship Support Fund towards support for spouses and individuals who may not have access to their household benefit documentation or their own funds; and
	Agreeing with the Learning and Skills Council an approach to evidencing low pay for fee remission purposes which enables flexible use of a raft of evidence, including wider benefits and other evidence.
	My hon. Friend the Minister for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning has asked officials to work with the Learning and Skills Council and other partners to finalise the detail urgently.

English Language

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether English for Speakers of Other Languages provision at Entry 1 and Entry 2 levels is eligible for funding from the Learning and Skills Council; and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: All Skills for Life English for Speakers of Other Languages provision at Entry 1 and Entry 2 levels is currently eligible for funding from the Learning and Skills Council and will continue to be so for 2007/08.

English Language: Adult Education

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what mechanisms are available to applicants for English for Speakers of other Languages classes to appeal against assessments that they should pay a proportion of course costs.

Phil Hope: There is no formal appeals procedure. Where applicants are not eligible for the fee remission for English for Speakers of Other Languages courses, the charging of fees is at the discretion of individual institutions.
	From 2007/08 to receive fee remission for any course a learner must prove that they fall into a fee remission category, for example, that they are in receipt of jobseeker's allowance or an income-based benefit.
	My hon. Friend the Minister for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning has considered the impact of the proposed changes to ESOL funding following the Race Equality Impact Assessment (REIA) and he is minded to consider a range of new measures to reprioritise funding towards the most vulnerable. These are:
	Re-instating eligibility for those asylum seekers who are in the UK legally and whose claims are not resolved within six months;
	Re-instating eligibility for those asylum seekers who are unable to return or be returned to their country of origin for circumstances beyond their control and who are eligible for section 4 support;
	Prioritising funding at local level through the Learning and Skills Council's Learner Hardship Support Fund towards support for spouses and individuals who may not have access to their household benefit documentation or their own funds; and
	Agreeing with the Learning and Skills Council an approach to evidencing low pay for fee remission purposes which enables flexible use of a raft of evidence, including wider benefits and other evidence.
	My hon. Friend the Minister for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning has asked officials to work with the Learning and Skills Council and other partners to finalise the detail urgently.

English Language: Equal Opportunities

Stephen Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if he will conduct a race equality impact assessment on the changes to English speakers of other languages provision which will be in place from September 2007.

Phil Hope: A race equality impact assessment regarding the changes to English for speakers of other languages is now complete and will be published shortly.
	My hon. Friend the Minister for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning has considered the impact of the proposed changes to ESOL funding following the race equality impact assessment (REIA) and he is minded to consider a range of new measures to reprioritise funding towards the most vulnerable. These are:
	Re-instating eligibility for those asylum seekers who are in the UK legally and whose claims are not resolved within six months;
	Re-instating eligibility for those asylum seekers who are unable to return or be returned to their country of origin for circumstances beyond their control and who are eligible for Section 4 support;
	Prioritising funding at local level through the Learning and Skills Council's Learner Hardship Support Fund towards support for spouses and individuals who may not have access to their household benefit documentation or their own funds; and
	Agreeing with the Learning and Skills Council an approach to evidencing low pay for fee remission purposes which enables flexible use of a raft of evidence, including wider benefits and other evidence.
	My hon. Friend the Minister for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning has asked officials to work with the Learning and Skills Council and other partners to finalise the detail urgently.

Funding

Susan Kramer: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how much funding per pupil was given to state-funded secondary schools in  (a) the London Borough of Richmond-upon-Thames and  (b) the London Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames in the last 12 months for which figures are available;
	(2)  how much funding per pupil was received by state-funded secondary schools in  (a) the London Borough of Hammersmith and  (b) the London Borough of Wandsworth in the last year for which figures are available;
	(3)  how much funding per pupil was received on average by state-funded secondary schools  (a) in London and  (b) in each London borough in the last year for which figures are available.

Jim Knight: The following table details the funding per pupil aged 11 to 15 for all London local authorities in 2005-06, the latest year for which a funding figure for secondary schools is available.
	
		
			  LEA  Funding per pupil aged 11 to 15 () 
			 London 5,780 
			 Barking and Dagenham 5,320 
			 Barnet 5,190 
			 Bexley 4,680 
			 Brent 6,110 
			 Bromley 4,790 
			 Camden 6,860 
			 Croydon 5,260 
			 Ealing 5,900 
			 Enfield 5,230 
			 Greenwich 6,520 
			 Hackney 7,870 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 6,870 
			 Haringey 6,440 
			 Harrow 5,170 
			 Havering 4,740 
			 Hillingdon 5,100 
			 Hounslow 5,510 
			 Islington 7,290 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 7,240 
			 Kingston upon Thames 4,850 
			 Lambeth 7,650 
			 Lewisham 7,040 
			 Merton 5,300 
			 Newham 6,020 
			 Redbridge 4,840 
			 Richmond upon Thames 4,830 
			 Southwark 7,330 
			 Sutton 4,750 
			 Tower Hamlets 7,430 
			 Waltham Forest 5,730 
			 Wandsworth 6,460 
			 Westminster 6,520 
			  Notes:  1. Figures reflect relevant sub-blocks of Education Formula Spending (EFS) settlements, including the pensions transfer to EFS.  2. Total funding also includes all revenue grants in DfES departmental expenditure limits relevant to pupils aged 11 to 15 and exclude education maintenance allowances (EMAs) and grants not allocated at LEA level.  3. The pupil numbers used to convert  million figures to  per pupil are those underlying the EFS settlement calculations.  4. Some of the grant allocations have not been finalised. If these do change, the effect on the funding figures is expected to be minimal.  5. Figures are in cash and rounded to the nearest 10.

Furniture

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much was spent by his Department on furniture made by British firms in each year since 2000.

Alan Johnson: The Department for Education and Skills uses the Office of Government framework contracts to purchase bulk office furniture. The main suppliers used are Pentos, Paragon, Orangebox and Herman Miller, all of whom supply British made furniture. A breakdown of the spend on this make of furniture since 2000 could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Further Education

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of 16-year-olds went on to  (a) A levels,  (b) further education,  (c) other vocational training and  (d) higher education in each local authority in the last period for which figures are available.

Jim Knight: The Department publishes annual statistics on the participation in education and training by 16 and 17-year-olds in each local area in England. The latest publication can be viewed here: http://www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000645/index.shtml. It refers to those of academic age 16 resident in the local authority at the end of 2004. This publication is the source of the figures used to answer this question.
	 (a) There is no information on the study aim of 16-year-olds at the local level. The column (a) in the attached table gives the proportion of 16-year-olds in each local authority who were in full-time education at school (maintained or independent). Not all of these will have been studying A levels, some will have been studying other vocational qualifications or qualifications below A level.
	 (b) Column (b) in the attached table gives the proportion of 16-year-olds in each local authority studying in full-time education in a further education college including sixth form colleges.
	 (c) Column (c) in the attached table gives the proportion of 16-year-olds in each local authority participating in government supported work-based learning. There is no information at a local level of those participating in other non-government funded vocational training.
	 (d) There are very few 16-year-olds in higher education (less than 1 per cent. of the population). They are not available on a consistent basis at a local level as information is only available on the location of the institute rather than where the young person resides. Information on 16-year-olds in higher education at a local level is therefore not available.
	To complete the table there is a final column of other 16-year-olds participating in part-time education to give a total participating in education and work-based learning.

GCSE

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what proportion of 15-year-olds attending  (a) independent schools and  (b) maintained schools achieved five or more GCSEs at A*-C including English and mathematics in each year since 1997;
	(2)  when he will reply to Question 122062, on GCSEs, tabled on 16 February 2007 by the hon. Member for Bognor Regis and Littlehampton.

Jim Knight: The information requested is given in the table as follows.
	
		
			  Percentage achieving 5 A*-C including English and mathematics GCSE 
			   Maintained  Independent 
			 1997 34.3 81.6 
			 1998 35.6 81.5 
			 1999 37.4 82.5 
			 2000 38.7 83.2 
			 2001 37.8 77.6 
			 2002 39.2 78.7 
			 2003 39.1 77.9 
			 2004 39.9 76.7 
			 2005 42.0 73.9 
			 2006 43.4 69.3

Headteachers: Kent

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how many Academy head teachers in Kent have previously been employed by Oxfordshire county council;
	(2)  how many secondary head teachers in Kent have previously been employed by Oxfordshire county council.

Jim Knight: holding answer 8 February 2007
	The information requested is not collected centrally.

Higher Education Student Numbers

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 7 March 2007,  Official Report, columns 2071-72W, on higher education student numbers, what percentage of applicants from  (a) England and  (b) the North East region went on to become undergraduate students at English universities in each of the last seven years.

Bill Rammell: The available information is taken from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) and is given in the table. The majority of students applying for full-time undergraduate courses apply to UCAS, but a small number apply directly to institutions.
	
		
			  Applicants, acceptances and acceptance rates through UCAS to full-time higher education courses from England and the North East region, UK higher education institutions, year of entry 2000 to 2006 
			   English domiciles  Of which: from the North East 
			  Year of entry  Applicants  Acceptances  Acceptance rate (Percentage)  Applicants  Acceptances  Acceptance rate (Percentage) 
			 2000 321,343 255,734 79.6 14,561 11,993 82.4 
			 2001 330,856 270,699 81.8 15,101 12,650 83.8 
			 2002 331,602 275,583 83.1 15,146 12,661 83.6 
			 2003 337,593 276,930 82.0 15,841 12,984 82.0 
			 2004 339,967 277,079 81.5 15,571 12,652 81.3 
			 2005 368,801 301,798 81.8 16,360 13,500 82.5 
			 2006 358,067 289,229 80.8 16,127 13,229 82.0 
			  Source: UCAS annual datasets.

Higher Education: Research

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many permanent academic research posts were funded in each year from 1997-98 to 2006-07; and what percentage this number was of all academic research posts funded in each year.

Bill Rammell: The information is shown in the following tables. Data for academic years 1997/98 to 2002/03 and 2003/04 to 2005/06, the latest year available, are shown separately to take account of the Higher Education Statistics Agency's revision of its staff data collection methodology in 2003-04.
	
		
			  Table 1: Academic staff( 1)  employed in research-only activities at English higher education institutions, 1997/8 to 2002/03 
			  Academic year  Permanent research-only posts  Total research-only posts  Permanent posts as a percentage of all research-only posts 
			 1997/98 1,830 30,810 5.9 
			 1998/99 2,035 31,325 6.5 
			 1999/2000 1,905 33,470 5.7 
			 2000/01 2,055 35,155 5.8 
			 2001/02 2,020 36,255 5.6 
			 2002/03 2,365 36,945 6.4 
			 (1) A count of active contracts for academic staff with 25 percent.+ full time equivalent only.  Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest five.  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Academic staff( 1)  employed in research-only activities in English higher education institutions, 2003/04 to 2005/06 
			  Academic year  Open ended/permanent research-only posts  Total  Permanent posts as a percentage of all research-only posts 
			 2003/04 2,465 29,375 8.4 
			 2004/05 3,210 29,410 10.9 
			 2005/06 4,715 30,610 15.4 
			 (1) A count of staff with one or more active contracts.  Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest five.  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)

History: Curriculum

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what policy considerations affected the decision to include the study of the second world war and Nazi holocaust in the key stage 3 history curriculum.

Jim Knight: The two world wars and the Holocaust have been compulsory elements of the key stage 3 history curriculum since 1995. Pupils should study the causes and consequences of various conflicts including the two world wars and the Holocaust and develop an understanding of the changing nature of conflict over time and attempts to resolve conflict.

History: Curriculum

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what policy considerations affected the decision to include the study of the slave trade in the key stage three history curriculum.

Jim Knight: Studying the nature and effects of the slave trade and its abolition will help pupils to understand the make up of the UK today and put immigration, the Commonwealth and the legacy of the empire into a clear historical context. The slave trade is already a suggested option for history teachers under the current curriculum.

Martial Arts: Schools

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills which schools offer  (a) boxing,  (b) kick boxing,  (c) karate and  (d) other forms of martial arts (i) within their sports programme and (ii) as part of extended school activities.

Jim Knight: As part of the National School Sport Strategy, the annual school sport survey collects data on the provision and take up of PE and sport from schools in School Sport Partnerships. All maintained schools are now in such partnerships. Schools are asked which sports or activities they provided during the academic year, but not whether these were offered within or beyond the school day.
	The 2005/06 survey (when 80 per cent. of schools were in such partnerships) found that:
	1,579 schools (9 per cent. of those surveyed) offered martial arts, including kickboxing, but not judo and karate;
	1,077 schools (6 per cent.) offered karate;
	571 schools (3 per cent.) offered judo; and
	431 schools (3 per cent.) offered boxing.

Naturalisation: English Language

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions  (a) Ministers and  (b) civil servants from his Department have had with counterparts in the Home Department on the role of English language skills in citizenship and social integration.

Phil Hope: Ministers and civil servants from the Department for Education and Skills regularly meet with colleagues in the Home Office. The changes announced to ESOL in October last year were cleared through the Asylum and Migration Cabinet Committee.

Nurseries: Greater London

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many nursery places for three and four-year-olds there were in  (a) Eltham,  (b) the London borough of Greenwich and  (c) London in (i) 1997 and (ii) 2006.

Beverley Hughes: The available information is shown in the table.
	
		
			   Eltham parliamentary constituency  Greenwich local authority area  London 
			  Year  Three and four-year-old population  Number of part time funded places filled by three and four-year-olds( 1,2)  Three and four-year-old population  Number of part time funded places filled by three and four-year-olds( 1,2)  Three and four-year-old population  Number of part time funded places filled by three and four-year-olds( 1,2) 
			 1997 n/a n/a 6,400 5,000 194,900 125,700 
			 2006 n/a 1,800 6,100 5,900 185,700 166,800 
			 n/a = not available (1) A place is equal to five or more sessions and can be filled by more than one child. (2) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 or 100 as appropriate. 
		
	
	The latest figures on early education places for three and four-year-olds in England were published in Statistical First Release 32/2006 'Provision for children under five years of age in EnglandJanuary 2006 (final)' in August, which is available on my Department's website at:
	www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/.

Nurseries: Teaching Methods

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the implications for funding for nurseries of the implementation of phonics under the Children Act 2006.

Beverley Hughes: The Government invest some 3 billion each year in delivery of the free early education entitlement to secure twelve and a half hours' free provision for 38 weeks a year for three and four-year-olds.
	Nurseries receiving this funding deliver the Foundation Stage and therefore will already be implementing the preparatory work which paves the way for early reading. This work will continue when the Early Years Foundation Stage supersedes the Foundation Stage in September 2008. The Government are investing some 2 million through the Primary National Strategy to support the teaching of phonics in primary schools and early years settings.

Pre-School Education: Standards

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children in nursery schools in Lancashire failed to meet expected standards in literacy and mathematical calculation in each of the last five years.

Jim Knight: The information is not available in the form requested. Children's development at age five is measured by the Foundation Stage Profile which replaced statutory baseline assessment on entry to primary school. This involves a continuous observational assessment during the academic year in which a child reaches the age of five. There are no pass or fail marks but, for the purposes of the national PSA target on improving young children's outcomes, a 'good level of development' at the Foundation Stage is defined as achieving a score of at least six points on a Foundation Stage Profile Scale. A child achieving a good level of development can be deemed to be 'working securely' within the Early Learning Goals.
	The following table shows the percentage of young children in the Lancashire local authority area and the North West Government Office region who achieve a score of six points or more in the assessment scales relating to the Communication, Language and Literacy and Mathematical Development areas of learning. Local authorities only supply full child data in an aggregate form and it is not possible to distinguish between nursery schools and other types of provider from this dataset. Sub-national figures are only available from 2005.
	
		
			  Percentage of children achieving six points or more( 1,2)  in the communication, language and literacy and mathematical development areas of learning on the foundation stage profile in Lancashire local authority area2005-06 
			   2005  2006 
			   Lancashire  North West  England  Lancashire  North West  England 
			  Communication, language and literacy   
			 Language for communication and thinking 85 83 81 79 79 78 
			 Linking sounds and letters 72 66 63 65 63 61 
			 Reading 79 75 72 71 70 68 
			 Writing 72 65 61 61 59 57 
			
			  Mathematical development   
			 Numbers as labels for counting 88 88 87 87 87 87 
			 Calculating 80 75 73 72 71 69 
			 Shape, space and measures 89 86 84 83 82 80 
			 (1) Children who achieve six points or more within a scale are deemed to be 'working securely' within the Early Learning Goals. (2) Includes children in maintained schools and private, voluntary and independent providers. 
		
	
	Care should be exercised in comparing the results year on year. Assessment against the Foundation Stage Profile is not yet universally well established and ongoing improvements in assessment and moderation have contributed to a general downward shift in the scores, including the percentage of children working securely within the Early Learning Goals. The downward shift is apparent across most authorities but to varying degrees. While the downward shift in the figures between 2005 and 2006 reflects these improvements to moderation and assessment, the precise extent of the impact is uncertain. While many local authorities may now have settled in respect of assessment, it is possible that there will be further impact in some authorities for some time although the effects on the results are likely to reduce over time as the survey becomes more embedded.
	The latest national figures on the Foundation Stage Profile for 2006 were published in a Statistical First Release 'Foundation Stage Profile 2006 (03/2007)' in January. A copy of the report and additional tables that show local authority achievement are available from the Department's website at:
	www.dfes.gov.uk/statistics

Pupils: Intimidation

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many children were excluded  (a) temporarily and  (b) permanently for bullying in schools in each year between 1997 and 2006.

Jim Knight: Information on the reasons for pupil exclusions is available from 2003/04 and has been provided in the table as follows.
	Information relating to exclusions during the 2005/06 school year is expected to be available in June 2007.
	
		
			  Maintained primary, secondary and special schools ( 1, 2) : Number and percentage of permanent and fixed period exclusions for bullying 2003/04 to 2004/05, England 
			   Number of permanent exclusions  Percentage of all permanent exclusions( 3)  Number of fixed period exclusions  Percentage of all fixed period exclusions( 3) 
			 2003/04 150 1.5 6,750 2.0 
			 2004/05 130 1.4 7,680 2.0 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed (2) Includes maintained special schools. Excludes non-maintained special schools (3) The number of exclusions for bullying expressed as a percentage of the total number of exclusions. (4) The number of exclusions for bullying has been derived from the Termly Exclusions Survey and applied to the number of permanent exclusions as confirmed by local authorities as part of the Schools Census data checking exercise.  Note: Numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.  Source:  Termly Exclusions Survey

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the salary is of each of the 10 highest paid employees of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority.

Jim Knight: The salary of each of the 10 highest paid employees of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in February 2007 was:
	162,109
	129,000
	112,500
	110,000
	110,000
	105,000
	92,435
	90,000
	89,845
	88,146.

Schools: Admissions

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average ratio was of applications to places in schools which were oversubscribed in the latest period for which figures are available.

Jim Knight: The information requested is not collected centrally, but may be available from individual local authorities.

Schools: Finance

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  how much deficit was accrued by each (1) primary and (1) secondary school in each local authority area in England in 2005-06; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  which schools in London ran a deficit in each of the last four years; what estimate he has made of the number of London schools likely to have a deficit at the end of 2006-07; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what proportion of surplus balances at schools were uncommitted to any specific project in each year since 1997;
	(4)  how many schools held excessive balances in each year since 1997;
	(5)  what the level of surplus balances was at schools in each year since 1997.

Jim Knight: In my written ministerial statement of 15 March I announced the publication by the Department of a summary of the data on school balances for the financial years for which information is available, 1999-2000 to 2005-06. Copies have been placed in the Library of the House. The information is also available on the Department's website at:
	www.dfes.gov.uk/localauthorities/section52/subPage.cfm?action=section52.defaultID=58

Schools: Finance

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether he expects the Consultation on School, Early Years and 14-16 Funding 2008-11 to affect  (a) the date of implementation of the Code of Practice and  (b) the funding arrangements to be agreed between the local education authorities and the maintained, private, voluntary and independent sectors.

Jim Knight: The 2006 'Code of Practice on the provision of free nursery education places for three and four-year-olds' came into force on 1 April 2006, replacing existing statutory guidance and reflecting the extension of the free entitlement from 33 to 38 weeks in private, voluntary and independent sector settings. The consultation on Schools, Early Years and 14-16 relates to funding arrangements for 2008-11.
	The Government are committed to extending the early education entitlement to 15 hours free provision that can be taken more flexibly. This extension will be rolled-out nationally from 2007, starting in 20 pathfinder local authorities. To enable the funding system to support the extended entitlement, the Schools, Early Years and 14-16 consultation document sets out a range of potential changes that could be made to the early years funding system at local level. These options are designed to bring the funding systems for maintained and private, voluntary and independent provision into closer alignment, enabling local authorities to respond to parental demand for more flexible early years provision. The consultation also invites views on proposals to increase the role and effectiveness of the early years sector in local decision making on funding issues.
	Decisions on the funding arrangements for 2008-11 will be taken in summer 2007 in the light of responses to the consultation and the outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review 2007.

Schools: Fires

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the cost was of fires in schools in 2006 in  (a) England and Wales,  (b) the North East and  (c) Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland constituency.

Jim Knight: The Department is responsible for education in England. The Department does not maintain records on the cost of fires. This is because local authorities, voluntary aided organisations, and individual schools are responsible for fire prevention and for taking out appropriate fire insurance. The Department expects financial provision to be made and planning undertaken locally for unforeseen events, including the rebuilding costs of schools damaged by fire, net of insurance.

Schools: Inspections

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what discussions he has had with Ofsted on the implementation of changes to inspections following the provision of the foundation stage curriculum.

Beverley Hughes: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, meets with Her Majesty's Chief Inspector on a regular basis and I meet with her termly. Inspection is one of the topics frequently discussed and we are working closely with Ofsted on changes to the current arrangements to reflect the introduction and implementation of the Early Years Foundation Stage. Ofsted is currently undertaking a series of pilot inspections based on a common approach to inspection that will be applicable across all early years settings from September 2008. The second phase of the pilots is due to commence in April.

Schools: Sports

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what representations he has received from community groups on the hiring of sports facilities at private finance initiative schools; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State receives a large number of representations from many groups. Our correspondence records do not show any representations as describedto undertake further searches would incur disproportionate cost.

Science: Curriculum

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what policy considerations affected the decision not to include the study of the role of lung structure in gas exchange in the revised key stage three Science curriculum.

Bill Rammell: The role of lung structure in gas exchange can be covered under 'Organisms behaviour and health' in the range and content section of the proposed Key Stage 3 programme of study. Teachers will use the national curriculum planning guidance to ensure appropriate coverage of these topics, while taking full advantage of the flexibility offered by the new programme of study.

Secondary Education: Curriculum

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the new approach to the curriculum outlined in the secondary curriculum review.

Jim Knight: Our assessment is that the revised secondary curriculum will be effective in providing flexibility for catch-up classes for pupils who have fallen behind the expected level in English and mathematics; effective in providing flexibility to allow pupils to extend and deepen their understanding in areas where they have particular attributes and interests; and effective in providing pupils with the personal skills, attributes and practical life skills they will need for work and in their adult lives.
	At the same time, it is our assessment that the revised secondary curriculum will maintain the essential elements of knowledge, skills and understanding that have stood the test of time and will equip pupils for success in further education or training and in the world of work.

Smith Institute

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much money from the public purse  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies gave to (i) the Smith Institute and (ii) its subsidiary SI Events Limited in each year since 1997; and for what purpose each payment was made.

Alan Johnson: The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has made the following payments to the Smith Institute:
	
		
			
			 1999-2000 29.95 
			 2000-01 5,000.00 
			  39.95 
			  39.95 
			  29.95 
		
	
	We have no record of any payments made to its subsidiary SI Events Ltd. Unfortunately, we cannot supply further information on the nature of these payments as the Department does not have immediate access to the original invoices on which the payments were based.

Special Educational Needs

David Willetts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how much special educational needs (SEN) funding was provided to students in  (a) further education and  (b) higher education in each year between 1997 and 2006; and if he will make a statement on his Department's submission for future levels of SEN funding in further and higher education as part of the forthcoming comprehensive spending review.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 14 March 2007
	Information on the funding allocated to support learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities who studied in the further education sector is in the following table.
	
		
			  Further Education  Number of learners supported  Funding provided ( billion) 
			 2003/04 579,000 1.3 
			 2004/05 641,000 1.5 
			 Source: LSC 
		
	
	Information for 2005/06 will be published in July 2007 and I will write to the hon. Gentleman once this is available. Comparable information is not available before 2003/04 as it was not collected in the same way under previous funding arrangements.
	The information includes all LSC funding to support post-16 learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities studying in England. This includes learners attending further education colleges, school sixth forms and work based learning providers.
	For higher education the details are as follows:
	
		
			  Higher Education  Mainstream disability funding ( million)  Disabled student's allowance ( million)  Number of students in receipt of disabled student's allowance 
			 2000/01 7.0 39.2 14,500 
			 2001/02 8.7 39.3 18,600 
			 2002/03 9.8 50.4 24,600 
			 2003/04 10.3 (1) (1) 
			 2004/05 10.4 70.7 32,400 
			 2005/06 12.3 78.0 35,400 
			 (1) A change in reporting arrangements for 2003/04 means aggregated figures are not available for this year  Source: Student Loans Company 
		
	
	The information includes full-time, part-time, and postgraduate students studying in England.
	As the Department has not yet received its comprehensive spending review (CSR) settlement, we are not in a position to announce the funding levels for specific programmes during the next CSR period. However, I can confirm that the costs of supporting learners with learning difficulties and disabilities have been fully integrated into our considerations for this.

Students: Debts

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate his Department has made of the average level of personal debt existing students will have accumulated at the end of their degrees.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 15 March 2007
	The Student Income and Expenditure Survey 2004/05, published on 30 March 2006, is a comprehensive study on students' income, expenditure, borrowing and debt.
	It showed that English domiciled full-time students graduating in academic year 2004/05 anticipated, on average, a total debt of 7,918. For those commencing courses after the introduction of variable fees in the 2006/07 academic year we expect average student debt of around 15,000.
	A generous package of support is now available to students. The Government have re-introduced non-repayable grants of up to 2,700 for full-time students. In 2006/07 around half of new full-time entrants were eligible for a full or partial grant. Non re-payable bursaries, typically worth 1,000, are available from universities and colleges to those from low income backgrounds. Additional help is available to students facing financial hardship from the Access to Learning Fund administered by individual higher education institutions.
	Student loans are available for tuition fees, as well as living costs, so no student has to find their fees before or during their studies. These loans are repayable only after a student has left their course and only then when their annual income reaches 15,000. The rates of interest are well below that of commercial credit and students only pay back in real terms the amount they originally borrow.

Translation Services

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what services provided by his Department and its related agencies translation services are provided.

Parmjit Dhanda: Translation services are provided by several contracted suppliers for the Department's printed publicity material.

Overseas Students: Medicine

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what proportion of medical students in the UK were non-European Economic Area nationals in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: I have been asked to reply.
	This information is not collected centrally.

TREASURY

Alcoholic Drinks: Death

David Ruffley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many deaths in which alcohol was the primary cause there were in  (a) Suffolk,  (b) Norfolk and  (c) Cambridgeshire in each year since 1997.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 19 March 2007:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many deaths in which alcohol was the primary cause there were in (a) Suffolk, (b) Norfolk and (c) Cambridgeshire in each year since 1997. (127621)
	The attached table provides the number of deaths with an alcohol-related underlying cause in (a) Suffolk, (b) Norfolk and (c) Cambridgeshire, from 1997 to 2005 (the latest year available).
	
		
			  Table 1. Number of deaths with an alcohol-related underlying cause of death( 1) , Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire( 2) , 1997 to 2005( 3) 
			  Deaths (persons) 
			   Suffolk  Norfolk  Cambridgeshire 
			 1997 37 50 32 
			 1998 53 64 28 
			 1999 43 60 40 
			 2000 50 69 36 
			 2001 51 67 38 
			 2002 48 70 51 
			 2003 60 87 37 
			 2004 65 70 45 
			 2005 56 81 48 
			 (1) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) for the years 1996 to 2000, and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) for 2001 onwards. The specific causes of death categorised as alcohol-related, and their corresponding ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes, are shown in the boxes below. The introduction of ICD-10 in 2001 means that the numbers of deaths from this cause before 2001 are not completely comparable with later years. (2) Based on county boundaries as of 2007. (3) Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. 
		
	
	
		
			  Box 1. Alcohol-related causes of deathInternational Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) 
			  Cause of death  ICD-9 code(s) 
			 Alcoholic psychoses 291 
			 Alcohol dependence syndrome 303 
			 Non-dependent abuse of alcohol 305 
			 Alcoholic cardiomyopathy 425.5 
			 Alcoholic fatty liver 571 
			 Acute alcoholic hepatitis 571.1 
			 Alcoholic cirrhosis of liver 571.2 
			 Alcoholic liver damage, unspecified 571.3 
			 Chronic hepatitis 571.4 
			 Cirrhosis of liver without mention of alcohol 571.5 
			 Other chronic non-alcoholic liver disease 571.8 
			 Unspecified chronic liver disease without mention of alcohol 571.9 
			 Accidental poisoning by alcohol E860 
		
	
	
		
			  Box 2. Alcohol-related causes of deathInternational Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) 
			  Cause of death  ICD-10 code(s) 
			 Mental and behavioural disorders due to use of alcohol F10 
			 Degeneration of nervous system due to alcohol G31.2 
			 Alcoholic polyneuropathy G62.1 
			 Alcoholic cardiomyopathy 142.6 
			 Alcoholic gastritis K29.2 
			 Alcoholic liver disease K70 
			 Chronic hepatitis, not elsewhere classified K73 
			 Fibrosis and cirrhosis of liver (excl. Biliary cirrhosis) (1)K74 
			 Alcohol induced chronic pancreatitis K86.0 
			 Accidental poisoning by and exposure to alcohol X45 
			 Intentional self-poisoning by and exposure to alcohol X65 
			 Poisoning by and exposure to alcohol, undetermined intent Y15 
			 (1) Excluding K74.3 to K74.5

Child Trust Fund

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the percentage take-up rate of child trust funds was in each year since the scheme's inception; how many funds have had revenue allocated in each of those years; what plans he has to increase take-up; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Balls: The latest set of Child Trust Fund account opening statistics showing the number of vouchers issued and accounts opened by parents was published on 4 January 2007 by HM Revenue and Customs at
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/child trust funds/child-trust-funds.htm
	The next set of statistics is due at the end of March.
	To ensure that parents understand the choices available and to encourage them to open a Child Trust Fund account for their child, the Government will continue to run marketing activity and provide appropriate support to parents. Activities to date include the Child Trust Fund Week in January.

Child Trust Fund

David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to increase the take-up of  (a) child benefit and  (b) child trust funds by use of the internet.

Edward Balls: There is a high take-up of child benefit and I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my right hon. Friend, the Paymaster General in her reply to the question from my right hon. Friend the Member for North Tyneside (Mr. Byers) on 7 March 2006,  Official Report, column 1296W. The HMRC website already enables people to claim child benefit on-line, but to safeguard against fraud the claim cannot be wholly electronic. Parents must send the birth certificates for each child to the Child Benefit Office in order to validate their claim. Child Trust Fund vouchers are sent automatically to parents once child benefit has been awarded for a qualifying child.
	The Child Trust Fund website www.childtrustfund,gov.uk contains useful information to encourage parents to use their Child Trust Fund voucher, including a step-by-step guide on how to open an account. This site also includes the functionality to ask for a replacement voucher over the internet if a parent has mislaid the original. In addition we provide Child Trust Fund advertising on key parenting websites and on search engines to direct people to the Child Trust Fund website and many Child Trust Fund providers allow online applications for Child Trust Fund accounts.

Civil Servants: Wales

Dai Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the impact on the Welsh economy of the proposed reduction in civil service jobs in Wales.

Stephen Timms: Since 1997 employment in Wales has increased by 11.7 per cent. with an extra 142,000 jobs created. In addition by September 2006 more than 2,400 civil service posts had been moved to Wales from London and the south-east as part of the Lyons relocation programme.
	HM Treasury does not centrally hold data showing which Departments intend to make workforce reductions in Wales as part of the SR04 efficiency programme. Departments are responsible for managing their workforce strategies and for implementing their SR04 workforce reduction target.

Climate Change Levy

Lynne Jones: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the change in value of the climate change levy has been since it was first announced in 1999; and if he will restore the value to the 1999 level.

John Healey: The climate change levy (CCL) was introduced in April 2001 and yielded 555 million in 2001-02. In 2005-06 CCL yielded 744 million. As announced in Budget 2006, the levy will increase in line with inflation on 1 April 2007. The Government keep all taxes under review and any changes are announced by the Chancellor as part of the Budget process.

Customs: Manpower

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many Customs officers are dedicated to  (a) uncanalised and  (b) intelligence-led work along the Sussex coast.

Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs does not specifically dedicate staff to any particular stretch of coastline. Instead, staff are flexibly deployed on an intelligence led basis to where the risk is greatest.

Customs: Manpower

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the effect on  (a) detection rates and  (b) other measures in relation to illegal imports of persons and goods of the disbanding of the Maritime and Aviation Intelligence Team.

Dawn Primarolo: During 2005-06 HMRC undertook a review of its intelligence activity and structure. As a result of that review, the Maritime and Aviation Intelligence Team's functions were reorganised into national hubs of expertise. Intelligence activity is now undertaken nationally by specialist operational teams who link with operational staff across the country. In this way, intelligence continues to support front line activity in HMRC and in other law enforcement agencies. No assessment has yet been made of the changes effected less than 12 months ago.

Customs: Newhaven

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of vehicles which were stopped by Customs officers at Newhaven in 2006.

Dawn Primarolo: This information cannot be disclosed as this would provide information of value to those seeking to circumvent HM Revenue and Customs' controls, thereby prejudicing the prevention and detection of crime.

Customs: Newhaven

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what seizures of illegal goods there were at Newhaven in each year from 1997 to date, broken down by  (a) type and  (b) quantity of goods.

Dawn Primarolo: National seizures made by HM Revenue and Customs and HM Customs and Excise since 1997 are published in the Annual Reports for HM Revenue and Customs and HM Customs and Excise. The figures for the year ending 31 March 2006 will be published in the next Annual Report.
	Information at a regional or local level cannot be disclosed as this would provide information of value to those seeking to circumvent HM Revenue and Customs' controls, thereby prejudicing the prevention and detection of crime.

Economic and Monetary Union

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the cost to date has been of his Department's Euro Information line on 0845 601 0199.

Stephen Timms: The Euro Information line was established in 1998 for use by business and the general public to request information or to order published material made available on the Treasury's euro website (www.euro.gov.uk). The cost of Euro Information line is met from within the Treasury's departmental expenditure limit. The direct costs for the helpline currently amount to 185.96 per year plus VAT. The costs of staff time in dealing with calls is not recorded separately.

Economic and Monetary Union

Mark Francois: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many calls have been made by businesses to his Department's Euro Information line on 0845 601 0199 requesting information on euro introduction or trade with euro area businesses since the introduction of the line.

Stephen Timms: Information on calls to the line is not available in the format requested. The total number of call minutes to the line from February 2001 to February 2007 was approximately 19,000. It is not recorded how many calls this represents, nor what proportion of the call minutes originated from businesses.

Economic Growth

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate  (a) the level of non-oil related GDP growth and  (b) contribution to non-oil related GDP growth of (i) labour productivity growth, (ii) employment rate growth, (iii) average hours worked growth and (iv) working-age population growth in real terms in each year since 1977.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 19 March 2007:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question regarding a request for an estimate of (a) the level of non-oil related GDP growth and (b) the contribution to non-oil related GDP growth of (i) labour productivity growth, (ii) employment rate growth, (iii) average hours worked growth and (iv) working-age population growth in real terms in each year since 1977. (127342)
	The Office for National Statistics (ONS) does not calculate an estimate of non-oil related GDP but I have provided our published estimate of gross value added excluding oil and gas (table A). The difference between GDP and gross value added is that GDP includes the effects of taxes and subsidies on products whereas gross value added does not. However, in terms of growth rates the difference is minimal.
	ONS does produce estimates of labour productivity, the employment rate, average hours worked and the working-age population. However, these are not used directly in the calculation of GDP and gross value added.
	
		
			  Table A: UK gross value added excluding oil and gas 
			million  Annual growth (%) 
			 1977 550,845  
			 1978 560,662 1.8 
			 1979 567,130 1.2 
			 1980 554,630 -2.2 
			 1981 544,608 -1.8 
			 1982 552,717 1.5 
			 1983 569,143 3.0 
			 1984 579,780 1.9 
			 1985 601,777 3.8 
			 1986 625,680 4.0 
			 1987 653,641 4.5 
			 1988 688,239 5.3 
			 1989 705,930 2.6 
			 1990 713,425 1.1 
			 1991 705,901 -1.1 
			 1992 707,761 0.3 
			 1993 722,761 2.1 
			 1994 749,358 3.7 
			 1995 768,340 2.5 
			 1996 788,326 2.6 
			 1997 812,717 3.1 
			 1998 841,328 3.5 
			 1999 866,997 3.1 
			 2000 901,169 3.9 
			 2001 922,188 2.3 
			 2002 939,114 1.8 
			 2003 966,014 2.9 
			 2004 999,966 3.5 
			 2005 1,021,976 2.2 
			 2006 1,051,503 2.9 
			 (1 )These figures are based on data published on 23rd February 2007

Economic Situation: Cumbria

David Maclean: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the gross value added rate was of the Cumbrian economy in each year since 1990.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell dated 19 March 2007:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question about Gross Value Added (GVA) of the Cumbrian economy in each year since 1990. (127181)
	Regional GVA data are currently published in The Nomenclature of Units for Territorial Statistics (NUTS) regions and Cumbria is a NUTS2 region. Table A has the latest available data from 1995 to 2004.
	Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data prior to 1995 were published biennially at the county level. These data were last published in 1998. Table B has the data for Cumbria from 1991 and 1993.
	Both data-sets are at current prices, therefore the effects of inflation are not taken into account. The data sets in Table A and Table B were calculated using different methodologies and cannot be used together to obtain a consistent time series.
	
		
			  Table A 
			   Gross value added in Cumbria ( million) 
			 1995 4,862 
			 1996 5,039 
			 1997 5,157 
			 1998 5,250 
			 1999 5,264 
			 2000 5,268 
			 2001 5,429 
			 2002 5,675 
			 2003 6,047 
			 2004 6,440 
		
	
	
		
			  Table B 
			   Gross domestic product in Cumbria ( million) 
			 1991 4,500 
			 1993 4,746

Excise Duties: Beer

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  if he will freeze beer duty; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effect of beer duty on profitability in the brewing industry;
	(3)  if he will introduce measures to assist investment and growth in the UK brewing industry; and if he will make a statement;
	(4)  what assessment he has made of the contribution made to the UK economy of the brewing and pub sector.

John Healey: Decisions on the taxation of beer are made by the Chancellor at Budget taking all relevant factors into consideration, including the state of the industry and its contribution to the economy.

Excise Duties: Gaming Machines

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will freeze duty on gaming machines; and if he will make a statement.

John Healey: Decisions on the taxation of gambling are made by the Chancellor at Budget taking all relevant factors into consideration, including the state of the industry and its contribution to the economy.

Financial Services: Advisory Services

Anne Main: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the appropriateness of the registration fees of small to medium-sized independent financial advice practices; what representations he has made to the Financial Services Authority regarding those fees; and if he will make a statement.

Edward Balls: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is operationally independent of Government including in relation to the setting of fees. The FSA consults annually on its proposed regulatory fees and levies. The FSA consultation for 2007-08 was published in February and is available at:
	http://www.fsa.gov.uk/Pages/Library/Policy/CP/2007/07_03.shtml

Inheritance Tax

Quentin Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the consequences for public revenues of reducing the rate of inheritance tax from 40 per cent. to 10 per cent., taking account of the probable behavioural impact of such a change; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: An estimate of the impact on tax revenues of reducing the inheritance tax rate to 10 per cent. from the year 2007-08 can be obtained from the ready reckoner table published by Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/tax_expenditures/table1-6.xls
	The ready reckoner figures do not include any allowance for the impact of behavioural responses to the change; we can not provide a reliable estimate of such an impact.

Investment Appraisals

Quentin Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the Government's cost of capital is for the purpose of investment appraisals and cost comparisons; how this figure is arrived at; how often and against what criteria it is reviewed; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: The Government use a discount rate of 3.5 per cent. in real terms in central Government appraisals. This reflects the social time preference rate rather than the cost of capital. The rate is kept under constant review. Further information is contained in The Green Book: Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government.

Owner Occupation

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the mean imputed rent is for owner-occupiers in each household income decile.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 19 March 2007:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the mean imputed rent is for owner occupiers in each household income decile. (127313).
	This information is not available. The main National Statistics on household income distribution, such as Households Below Average Income (HBAI) and The Effects of Taxes and Benefits on Household Income, do not use definitions of income which include imputed rent for owner-occupiers. HBAI presents statistics using two definitions of income: 'before housing costs' and 'after housing costs'. This latter measure achieves greater comparability between owner-occupier households and those that rent accommodation, albeit only for a measure of income which disregards housing and the contribution it makes to a households standard of living.
	Comparisons of income distributions between countries are particularly affected by structural differences between housing markets. Therefore in statistics for international comparison, the treatment of housing is particularly important. The new EU-SILC (European UnionSurvey on Income and Living Conditions) will include estimates of imputed rent from the 2007 survey onwards (data available from 2009
	onwards).
	Estimates of the total imputed rent for all owner-occupiers are included in the National Accounts, although this information is not available by income decile group.

Personal Income

David Willetts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the  (a) mean and  (b) median age is of the household reference person in each household income decile.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 19 March 2007:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking what the (a) mean and (b) median age is of the household reference person in each household income decile. (127327).
	The ONS analysis 'The effects of taxes and benefits on household income' provides information about the income distribution and the characteristics of households in different parts of the income distribution. The latest analysis for 2004/05 was published on the National Statistics website on 12th May 2006 at http://www.statistics.gov.uk/taxesbenefits, while that for 2005/06 will be published on 17 May 2007. This annual analysis is based on data from the Expenditure and Food Survey, which is a sample survey covering approximately 7,000 households in the UK. Tables 15 and 15A provide information on household characteristics by income decile group.
	The table below, based on the same underlying data as that appearing in Tables 15 and 15A, shows the mean and median age of the household reference person by household income decile.
	The household reference person is the person in the household who owns the accommodation or is responsible for paying rent. If this ownership or responsibility for paying rent is held jointly, then the household reference person is the person with the highest income. A fuller definition is provided in the background notes.
	The income decile groups are determined by ranking households according to their equivalised disposable income. The table below also shows the equivalised income boundary points which separate households into decile groups.
	Equivalised incomes are standardised to take into account different sizes and compositions of households. The standard household is deemed to be a two adult household with no children, and so these equivalised incomes can be interpreted as indicating a standard of living that would be achieved by a standard household with that income.
	The figures shown in the table below are based on a sample survey and are not necessarily accurate to the nearest single year of age, but nevertheless provide a good indication of how the age of the household reference person changes across the income distribution.
	
		
			  Mean and median age of household reference person by decile groups of ALL households, 2004-05 
			   Decile groups of all households ranked by equivalised disposable income  
			   Bottom  2( nd)  3( rd)  4( th)  5( th)  6( th)  7( th)  8( th)  9( th)  Top  All households 
			 Decile boundary points (equivalised)   9,892  12,530  14,691  16,948  19,309  22,287  25,811  30,832  40,385  
			 Number of households in the population (000s) 2,440 2,446 2,440 2,445 2,443 2,444 2,443 2,440 2,447 2,444 24,431 
			 Mean age of household reference person 55 55 58 56 53 51 50 48 45 46 52 
			 Median age of household reference person 57 57 60 57 51 50 49 48 45 45 52 
			  Source:  ONS, Effects of taxes and benefits on household income, 2004-05.

Sailing Boats

Norman Baker: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of yacht movements between non-EU ports and the UK in the latest year for which figures are available; and how many reports were logged in respect of such movements over the same period.

Dawn Primarolo: Whether or not the crew of a yacht needs to notify HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) of its arrival depends on its last port of call. If arriving directly from an EU member state, the crew of a yacht need only contact HMRC if they have goods to declare. When arriving direct from a country outside the EU (the Channel Islands are regarded as outside the EU for this purpose), the crew must notify HMRC if any of the following criteria apply:
	VAT has not been paid on the vessel;
	there are goods in excess of the travellers' allowance detailed in Notice 1 A Customs guide for travellers entering the UK;
	they have on board goods which are to be treated as duty free stores;
	they have any prohibited or restricted goods;
	there is any notifiable illness on board;
	there are any people on board who need immigration clearance; or
	any repairs or modifications, other than running repairs, have been carried out since the vessel last left the EU.
	In the year to 15 March 2007 we were advised of 166 inbound yacht movements. HMRC has no further figures relating to such movements.

Skin Cancer

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the  (a) diagnosis and  (b) mortality rate was for (i) melanoma skin cancer and (ii) non-melanoma skin cancer in (A) Taunton constituency and (B) the UK in each year since 1996, broken down by age group.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 19 March 2007:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the (a) diagnosis and (b) mortality rate was for (i) melanoma skin cancer and (ii) non-melanoma skin cancer in (A) Taunton constituency and (B) the UK in each year since 1996, broken down by age group.
	The latest available figures for newly diagnosed cases of cancer (incidence) are for the years 2005 (Wales), 2004 (England, Northern Ireland) and 2003 (Scotland). The latest available figures for deaths are for the year 2005.
	For the UK, age-specific incidence and mortality rates of respectively, melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer, from 1996, are given in Tables 1 and 3 below.
	For Taunton Deane LA, numbers of newly registered cases of, and deaths from, respectively, melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer, from 1996, are given in Tables 2 and 4 below. Only a broad breakdown by age (0-59, 60+) is possible because of the small number of cases in some years.
	Numbers for both melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer, for Taunton Deane LA, particularly those for deaths, are too small to produce reliable age-specific rates even on the broad age ranges provided. Numbers for the UK are provided in Tables 5 and 6.
	
		
			  Table 1: Age-specific rates( 1)  of newly diagnosed cases of, and deaths from, melanoma skin cancer( 2)  for the UK, 1996 to 2005 
			  UK  Age  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 Incidence 0-59 65 67 70 69 76 84 87 85   
			  60+ 232 249 247 261 293 301 324 331   
			 
			 Mortality 0-59 12 12 12 12 13 12 12 13 12 13 
			  60+ 79 81 90 89 87 90 87 95 95 96 
			 (1) Rate per million population. (2) Melanoma skin cancer incidence is defined as code C43 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD 10). Cause of death is defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code 172 for years 1996 to 2000, and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C43 for years 2001 to 2005. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of newly diagnosed cases of, and deaths from, melanoma skin cancer( 1)  for Taunton Deane LA, 1996 to 2005 
			  Taunton Deane LA( 2)  Age  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 Incidence 0-59 4 7 8 3 9 18 6 15 14  
			  60+ 5 10 6 11 11 15 11 17 18  
			 
			 Mortality 0-59 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 4 1 
			  60+ 3 3 2 4 3 3 3 4 2 1 
			 (1) Melanoma skin cancer incidence is defined as code C43 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD 10). Cause of death is defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code 172 for years 1996 to 2000, and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C43 for years 2001 to 2005. (2) Using local authority ward boundaries as of 2007 for all years shown.  Sources: 1. Office for National Statistics 2. Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit. 3. Scottish Cancer Registry ISD 4. Northern Ireland Cancer Registry. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Age-specific rates( 1)  of newly diagnosed cases of, and deaths from, non-melanoma skin cancer( 2)  for the UK, 1996 to 2005 
			  UK  Age  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 Incidence 0-59 215 242 262 269 276 286 292 297   
			  60+ 3,203 3,550 3,873 3,944 4,136 4188 4,255 4,315   
			 
			 Mortality 0-59 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 
			  60+ 32 33 35 32 29 36 38 39 40 38 
			 (1) Rate per million population. (2) Non-melanoma skin cancer incidence is defined as code C44 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD 10). Cause of death is defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code 173 for years 1996 to 2000, and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C44 for years 2001 to 2005. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 4: Number of newly diagnosed cases of, and deaths from, non-melanoma skin cancer( 1)  for Taunton Deane LA, 1996 to 2005 
			  Taunton Deane LA( 2)  Age  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 Incidence 0-59 18 25 44 38 41 42 38 44 46  
			  60+ 88 113 180 163 185 132 159 168 216  
			 
			 Mortality 0-59 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 
			  60+ 0 0 0 2 2 0 2 1 2 4 
			 (1) Non-melanoma skin cancer incidence is defined as code C44 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD 10). Cause of death is defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code 173 for years 1996 to 2000, and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C44 for years 2001 to 2005. (2) Using local authority ward boundaries as of 2007 for all years shown.  Sources: 1. Office for National Statistics 2. Welsh Cancer Intelligence and Surveillance Unit. 3. Scottish Cancer Registry ISD 4. Northern Ireland Cancer Registry. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 5: Number of newly diagnosed cases of, and deaths from, melanoma skin cancer( 1)  for the UK, 1996 to 2005 
			  UK  Age  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 Incidence 0-59 3,008 3,117 3,237 3,212 3,551 3,959 4,073 4,026 0-59 3,008 
			  60+ 2,785 2,999 2,984 3,168 3,580 3,689 3,993 4,123 60+ 2,785 
			 
			 Mortality 0-59 559 546 549 552 616 554 571 592 583 595 
			  60+ 951 977 1,084 1,083 1,058 1,101 1,075 1,177 1,202 1,225 
			 (1) Non-melanoma skin cancer incidence is defined as code C44 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD 10). Cause of death is defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code 173 for years 1996 to 2000, and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C44 for years 2001 to 2005. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 6: Number of newly diagnosed cases of, and deaths from, non- melanoma skin cancer( 1)  for the UK, 1996 to 2005 
			  UK  Age  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 Incidence 0-59 9,927 11,181 12,166 12,510 12,878 13,417 13,720 13,986 0-59 9,927 
			  60+ 38,466 42,746 46,886 47,934 50,491 51,332 52,466 53,728 60+ 38,466 
			 
			 Mortality 0-59 60 38 44 43 43 39 41 37 37 31 
			  60+ 388 401 422 389 351 440 474 483 505 480 
			 (1) Non-melanoma skin cancer incidence is defined as code C44 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD 10). Cause of death is defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) code 173 for years 1996 to 2000, and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code C44 for years 2001 to 2005.

Smuggling: Firearms

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many seizures of illegal firearms were made by HM Revenue and Customs staff in each year since 1997; and how many individuals were prosecuted as a result of such seizures in each year.

Dawn Primarolo: The answer to the question is as follows:
	
		
			   Number of seizures of illegal firearms  Number of individuals prosecuted 
			 2002-03 n/a 4 
			 2003-04 171 8 
			 2004-05 83 4 
			 2005-06 229 3 
			 n/a = Not available. 
		
	
	The number of seizures of firearms includes air firearms as defined in the Firearms Act 1968 as amended with the exception of self defence sprays, stun guns and parts of firearms.
	The following information is not available:
	the number of seizures prior to 1 April 2003;
	the number of individuals prosecuted prior to 1 April 2002; and prosecutions undertaken as a result of seizures that were referred to police forces for investigation.

Students: Loans

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the total value was of student loan repayments received by HM Revenue and Customs during the financial years  (a) 2003-04 and  (b) 2004-05; and how much of this has been passed on to the Student Loan Company.

Dawn Primarolo: Published 2003-04 and 2004-05 student loans cash receipts figures are available in the 2005 and 2006 HM Revenue and Customs Annual Report which can be accessed at
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/reports.htm
	HMRC passes on all receipts from student loan collection to the Department for Education and Skills on a quarterly basis.

Students: Loans

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in how many cases student loan repayments made to the Inland Revenue during the financial year 2004-05 have not yet been passed on to the Student Loans Company.

Dawn Primarolo: HM Revenue and Customs will only know the total number of borrowers who have had repayments deducted by their employer when they have finished processing all 1.6 million employers' annual returns for the financial year 2004-05.
	However, we currently estimate that 1.9 per cent. of 2004-05 student loan repayments have not yet been passed on to the Student Loans Company.

Taxation: Football

Frank Dobson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  whether non-British footballers playing in the English Premier League pay UK tax on their incomes, including bonuses;
	(2)  whether British footballers playing in the English Premier League pay UK tax on their incomes, including bonuses;
	(3)  whether non-British directors of English Premier League football clubs pay UK tax on  (a) their incomes, including bonuses and  (b) capital gains;
	(4)  whether Premier League football clubs owned by non-British individuals or corporate bodies are liable to UK taxation on their  (a) profits and  (b) capital gains.

Dawn Primarolo: Footballers playing in the English premier league, directors of English premier league clubs and premier league football clubs pay UK tax on their income and capital gains on the same basis as any other individual or body working or operating in the UK. The correct tax treatment will be determined by the particular facts and circumstances.

Taxation: Self-assessment

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of  (a) pensioners and  (b) taxpayers submitting tax returns do not have (i) capital gains tax liability, (ii) business income, (iii) property income, (iv) partnership income, (v) income from share schemes and (vi) foreign income; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: Figures for income tax self assessment returns for the 2004-05 tax year (the latest full year available) are provided in the following table.
	Table: Self assessment tax returns received for the 2004-05 tax year, showing numbers and proportions without those supplementary pages which indicate the receipt of various kinds of income and gains.
	
		
			   (a) All individuals  (b) Individuals in receipt of a state pension 
			   Number  Proportion of total  Number  Proportion of total 
			 All individuals 8,100,000  1,360,000  
			  of which: 
			 (i) without capital gains pages(1) 7,670,000 94.6 1,230,000 90.2 
			 (ii) without self- employment pages (business income)(2) 4,990,000 61.6 1,120,000 82.4 
			 (iii) without land and property pages(3) 6,570,000 81.1 1,090,000 80.2 
			 (iv) without partnership pages 7,040,000 86.9 1,220,000 89.4 
			 (v) without share schemes pages 8,080,000 99.7 1,360,000 100.0 
			 (vi) without foreign pages 7,680,000 94.8 1 ,200,000 88.3 
			 (1) Besides the main capital gains pages, these figures take account of short tax returns submitted with supplementary capital gains pages. (2 )Besides the main self employment pages, these figures take account of short tax returns with the self-employment income section completed. (3 )Besides the main land and property pages, these figures take account of short tax returns submitted with the UK land and property income section completed.  Note:  Figures are rounded to the nearest 10,000. The figures in the table relate to returns received and captured onto HMRC computer systems as at March 2007.

Teenage Pregnancy: Greater London

Sarah Teather: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many underage pregnancies were recorded in each London borough in each of the last five years, broken down by ethnic group.

John Healey: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 19 March 2007:
	As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many underage pregnancies have been recorded in each London borough in each of the last five years, broken down by ethnic group. (127739)
	Figures on underage pregnancies are estimated using the number of conceptions that resulted in a live birth, stillbirth or termination.
	Information on ethnicity is not collected at birth registration and hence figures on underage pregnancies by ethnicity are not available.
	Number of conceptions to girls aged under 16 in each London Borough for the years 2001-2005 (the most recent year for which figures are available), are shown in the
	attached table. Figures for 2005 are provisional.
	
		
			  Number of conceptions to girls aged under 16 years by area of usual residence, London, 2001-2005( 1) 
			  Area of usual residence  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005( 1) 
			 London 1,252 1,229 1,247 1,128 1,060 
			   
			 Camden LB 22 25 23 14 26 
			 Hackney LB and City of London 62 56 62 52 37 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham LB 22 21 25 11 22 
			 Haringey LB 59 59 46 62 39 
			 Islington LB 37 30 33 35 34 
			 Kensington and Chelsea LB 14 13 8 5 9 
			 Lambeth LB 80 95 100 64 67 
			 Lewisham LB 61 70 74 59 64 
			 Newham LB 71 59 45 47 36 
			 Southwark LB 68 77 83 66 57 
			 Tower Hamlets LB 42 34 28 35 25 
			 Wandsworth LB 48 41 39 27 26 
			 Westminster, City of LB 20 17 17 8 12 
			 Barking and Dagenham LB 51 43 44 42 38 
			 Barnet LB 34 27 38 34 30 
			 Bexley LB 34 36 27 36 32 
			 Brent LB 52 50 54 49 53 
			 Bromley LB 33 38 39 36 36 
			 Croydon LB 72 68 57 63 66 
			 Baling LB 31 32 29 32 30 
			 Enfield LB 43 51 58 46 35 
			 Greenwich LB 51 45 45 49 48 
			 Harrow LB 24 21 18 25 16 
			 Havering LB 23 18 29 25 35 
			 Hillingdon LB 37 39 48 50 39 
			 Hounslow LB 38 25 34 36 26 
			 Kingston upon Thames LB 9 8 9 9 12 
			 Merton LB 20 22 27 24 24 
			 Redbridge LB 26 28 25 25 21 
			 Richmond upon Thames LB 10 9 8 12 11 
			 Sutton LB 17 23 25 20 21 
			 Waltham Forest LB 41 49 50 30 33 
			 (1) Figures for 2005 are provisional.  Note: To preserve confidentiality, counts for City of London have been combined with those for Hackney LB.

Water Charges: Low Incomes

Ashok Kumar: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide additional assistance to  (a) low income families and  (b) pensioners to pay for water bills.

Dawn Primarolo: Since 1997 the Government have provided significant additional financial assistance to families and pensioners to help them meet all their living costs. Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit are the main tools for directing financial support to families. From April 2007, financial support for all two children families will be at least 1,570, with the poorest receiving 5,810.
	From April, the basic state pension will increase by 3.05 to 87.30 a week, the biggest increase in the basic state pension since 2001; and the pension credit guarantee will see its biggest cash rise: by 5 to 119.05 a week for a single person and by 7.65 to 181.70 for a couple.

Welfare Tax Credits

Andrew Selous: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reason tax credit repayments cannot be taken from future payments when a single claim becomes a joint claim by a couple; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 2 March 2007
	Entitlement to a tax credit award comes to an end where an individual who has made a single claim becomes part of a couple. Tax credit legislation does not allow recovery from a subsequent partner where the overpayment arose from an earlier award to which that person had neither claimed nor benefited.
	Any overpayment on the single claim can be collected over 12 months. In cases of hardship, HMRC will consider recovering over a longer periods if appropriate.

Written Questions

Andrew Selous: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to provide a substantive reply to question 124660, tabled on 27 February 2007.

Dawn Primarolo: I have done so.

HEALTH

Accident and Emergency Departments

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many admissions there were to accident and emergency departments in 2006, broken down by  (a) type and  (b) strategic health authority (SHA); and what proportion of the resident population of each SHA the latter figure represents.

Andy Burnham: Information on the number of emergency admissions via accident and emergency (AE) departments for January to December 2006, broken down by AE type and strategic health authority, is show in the following table.
	Information on the number of attendances at AE departments is a separate collection.
	
		
			  Strategic health authority (SHA) name  Admissions via type 1 (major) A  E  Admissions via type 2 (single specialty) A  E departments  Admissions via type 3 (minor injury and illness services) A  E departments  Total admissions via A  E  Population( 1)  Admissions as percentage of population 
			 England 2,947,677 37,062 25,675 3,073,151 50,431,65 4 6.1 
			 North East 149,968 127 3,714 157,650 2,558,308 6.2 
			 North West 525,953 5,063 2,374 540,827 6,846,249 7.9 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 305,719 0 1,475 308,669 5,063,944 6.1 
			 East Midlands 187,863 4,140 1,629 199,401 4,306,335 4.6 
			 West Midlands 289,334 5,265 48 299,960 5,365,438 5.6 
			 East of England 270,579 3,304 1,932 281,051 5,541,636 5.1 
			 London 551,730 3,802 55 559,444 7,517,726 7.4 
			 South East Coast 225,299 14,144 11,955 277,497 4,213,904 6.6 
			 South Central 170,196 755 1,575 174,856 3,950,320 4.4 
			 South West 271,036 462 918 273,796 5,067,794 5.4 
			 (1) Population data for mid-year 2006 are not yet available. Population data used are therefore 2003-based resident population projections for mid-year 2005 (based on 2001 census).  Note: Data are for period January to December 2006 (quarter 4 2005-06 plus quarter 1 to quarter 3 2006-07).  Source: Department of Health QMAE dataset and Office for National Statistics.

Bedford Primary Care Trust: Health Visitors

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health visitors are employed by Bedfordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT); and how many were employed by  (a) Bedford PCT and  (b) Heartlands PCT in (i) 2005, (ii 2004 and (iii) 2003.

Rosie Winterton: Information as to the number of health visitors employed by the newly formed Bedfordshire Primary Care Trust (PCT) is not yet available. However, the following table shows the number of qualified health visiting staff in the old Bedford PCT and the old Bedfordshire Heartlands PCT as at 30 September for each year specified.
	
		
			  Headcount 
			   2003  2004  2005 
			 Total specified organisations 93 97 96 
			 Bedford PCT 37 42 41 
			 Bedfordshire Heartlands PCT 56 55 55 
			  Source: The Information Centre for health and social care non-medical workforce census.

Caesarean Sections

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many  (a) emergency and  (b) planned caesarean births there were in each year since 1995.

Ivan Lewis: The last year for which this information is available is 2004-05. Figures are shown in the table.
	
		
			   Elective  Emergency 
			 1995-96 40,889 56,297 
			 1996-97 43,399 57,667 
			 1997-98 46,215 60,840 
			 1998-99 46,200 64,103 
			 1999-2000 48,616 67,836 
			 2000-01 48,365 69,800 
			 2001-02 50,378 68,795 
			 2002-03 50,964 69,596 
			 2003-04 55,286 75,443 
			 2004-05 54,905 79,436 
			  Source:  NHS Maternity Statistics, England 2004-05 (Table 3).

Care Homes: Finance

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what her assessment is of the policy implications of the judgment in the 2004 case of Goldsmith  v. the London Borough of Wandsworth on the funding of care in nursing homes.

Ivan Lewis: The Department has examined the Court of Appeal Judgment of 27 August 2004 and does not consider that it has implications for the policy on the funding of care in nursing homes.

Care Homes: Greater London

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the  (a) average and  (b) longest waiting times were for care assessments by each London borough council in each of the last five years.

Ivan Lewis: The information has been placed in the Library. Table 1 shows the cumulative percentage of new clients aged 18 and over whose assessments were completed during the year by length of time from first contact to completed assessment for the years 2003-04 to 2005-06 for each London borough.
	Table 2 shows the number of new clients whose assessments were completed during the year by the waiting time between first contact and completed assessment for the years 2003-04 to 2005-06 for each London borough.
	Data for earlier years are not available on a comparable basis.
	The information needed to calculate the average and longest waiting time for a care assessment is not collected centrally.

Childbirth

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of births were classed as normal in each year since 1995.

Ivan Lewis: For the years 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05 the numbers of normal deliveries (defined as those without surgical intervention, use of instruments, induction, epidural or general anaesthetic before or during the birth) are set out in the table. Information for years before 2002 is not available centrally.
	
		
			   Number of deliveries  Number of normal deliveries  Percentage normal 
			 2002-03 548,000 257,560 47 
			 2003-04 575,900 264,914 46 
			 2004-05 584,100 280,368 48

Childbirth

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what international comparators she uses when assessing perinatal statistics.

John Healey: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 19 March 2007:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question asking what international comparators are used when assessing perinatal statistics. (127278)
	It is difficult to make international comparisons on perinatal mortality because of different definitions used for compiling perinatal mortality statistics. These are due to differences in the legal criteria used for birth registration and inclusion criteria used for recording birth information on other data collection systems. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the perinatal period commences at 22 completed weeks (154 days) of gestation (when birthweight is normally 500 grams) and ends 7 completed days afterbirth(1).
	In England and Wales, perinatal mortality statistics (since 1992) are based on the legal definition of stillbirths registered at 24 or more weeks gestation, which are collected by the vital registration system, and includes deaths at ages up to 6 completed days of life (whatever the gestational age at live birth). Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland use the same stillbirth definition as England and Wales, hence perinatal mortality statistics are comparable between these countries.
	Countries such as Austria, Germany, Luxembourg and Portugal collect information on births using the WHO criteria and hence perinatal mortality statistics for these countries are comparable(2). But in countries such as Denmark, Spain and Sweden, only fetal deaths after 28 or more completed weeks of gestation are registered as stillbirths, and in countries which use no such criteria, regulations about stillbirth registration can affect decisions about whether an event is a late miscarriage or should be registered as a birth. Furthermore, under-reporting can be a problem, particularly where data collection systems are not statutory.
	Therefore, the PERISTAT project funded by the European Union was charged with developing a set of indicators for monitoring and describing perinatal health in Europe.
	With the PERISTAT indicator set, the aim is to facilitate the surveillance of perinatal health in the EU by harmonizing indicator definitions and encouraging the collection of comparable data for the following purposes:
	To assess maternal and infant mortality and morbidity associated with events in the perinatal period.
	To describe the evolution of risk factors for perinatal health outcomes in the population of childbearing women, including demographic, socio-economic and behavioural characteristics.
	To monitor the use and consequences of medical technology in the care of women and infants during pregnancy, delivery and the postpartum period.
	ONS has been providing data for England and Wales for the PERISTAT indicators, where possible.
	Further details on this project can be viewed using this link:
	http://europeristat.aphp.fr/en/index.html
	(1) International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, Tenth Revision, Volume 1, page 1237.
	(2) European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Reproductive Biology, volume 111, supplement 1, 2003, page SI7.

Childbirth: Death

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of births resulted in  (a) maternal and  (b) perinatal death in each year since 1995.

Ivan Lewis: Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health (CEMACH)'s report on maternal death for the three-year period 2000-02 showed that there were 106 direct maternal deaths in that period, representing 5.3 deaths per thousand of the two million births. The next CEMACH report is expected at the end of the year.
	Office for National Statistics data shows that in 2002, the most recent year for which figures are available, there were 4,977 perinatal deaths in 596,122 maternities, or 8.3 deaths per 1,000 pregnancies.

Childbirth: Midwives

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of babies born in England were delivered by midwives in each year since 1995.

Ivan Lewis: The data is set out in the table.
	
		
			   Percentage delivered by midwives 
			 1995-96 71.1 
			 1996-97 70.8 
			 1997-98 69.4 
			 1998-99 68.1 
			 1999-2000 66.9 
			 2000-01 66.2 
			 2001-02 65.4 
			 2002-03 66.1 
			 2003-04 66.1 
			 2004-05 63.7

Clostridium Difficile

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance her Department has issued to hospitals on the means to prevent transmission of  clostridium difficile; and if she will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: The Department has issued the following guidance specifically for the management and control of  Clostridium difficile:
	A professional letter on health care associated infections including particularly infection caused by  Clostridium difficile was issued to all Chief Executives of national health service acute trusts, primary care trusts and strategic health authorities on 7 December 2006. This letter set out the policies and clinical practices needed to control  Clostridium difficile and also included very simple operational guidance for managers.
	A high impact intervention on  Clostridium difficile was added to our delivery programme Saving lives: a delivery programme to reduce healthcare associated infections including MRSA in June 2006. This tool will help to reduce infections.
	A joint professional letter from the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Nursing Officer went out to NHS Trusts in December 2005 reminding them of the importance of this infection and listed the key actions to control  Clostridium difficile and highlighted the guidance available(1, 2). The letter has been placed in the Library and is at:
	http://www.dh.gov.uk/PublicationsAndStatistics/LettersAndCirculars/ProfessionalLetters/ChiefMedicalOfficerLetters/ChiefMedicalOfficerLettersArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4125069chk=cuQ7C%2B
	In addition we have asked the Health Protection Agency to review the extant guidance issued in 1994. This revised national guidance should be ready in the spring.
	All those providing health care services need high standards of hygiene to prevent infections. Specific measures to control  Clostridium difficile are restriction, where possible, of broad spectrum antibiotics, isolation of patients and enhanced environmental cleaning.
	Both a simple guide to  Clostridium difficile and the National  Clostridium difficile Standards group: Report to the Department of Health, are available in the Library and on the Department's website at:
	http://www.dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/HealthAndSocialCareTopics/HealthcareAcquiredInfection/HealthcareAcquiredGeneralInformation/HealthcareAcquiredGeneralArticle/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4115800chk=wHehV/
	National  Clostridium difficile Standards Group: Report to Department of the Health February 2003 http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/06/76/51/04067651.pdf
	(1) Clostridium Difficile Infection, Prevention and Management A Report by a Department of Health/PHLS joint working group. 1994 http://www.hpa.org.uk/
	(2) Guidelines for optimal surveillance of  Clostridium difficile infection in hospitals Brazier JS and Duerden BI. Guidelines for optimal surveillance of  Clostridium difficile infection in hospitals. Comm.Dis.Pub.Health. 1998:1;(4) 229-230.

Dental Services: Finance

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total amount of revenue resource was allocated to each primary care trust in England to provide NHS dental services in 2006-07.

Rosie Winterton: A table listing the primary dental service resource allocations for 2006-07 for all primary care trusts (PCTs) in England as at 31 July 2006 is available in the Library. This set out the net allocations awarded to PCTs and the assumed gross budgets based on illustrative assumptions about levels of patient charge income for each PCT. Strategic health authorities agreed with their PCTs locally how these allocations would be redistributed within the new PCT areas that took effect from 1 October 2006.

Dietary Supplements: EC Law

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will press the European Food Safety Agency  (a) to publish a timetable for assessment of evidence dossiers submitted to it under the terms of the food supplement directive and  (b) to make it its policy to announce decisions on individual applications as soon as they have been made.

Caroline Flint: At a recent meeting with part of the United Kingdom food supplements industry, a number of concerns were raised regarding dossiers submitted for an opinion by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in relation to the food supplements directive. It was agreed at the meeting that these concerns would be raised with EFSA and this will include the timetable for assessing dossiers and the publication of decisions on individual applications.

Doctors: Foreign Workers

Nicholas Clegg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many  (a) junior doctors and  (b) fully qualified doctors of (i) European Economic Area (EEA) nationality and (ii) non-EEA nationality have been newly employed by the NHS since July 2006;
	(2)  how many  (a) junior doctors and  (b) fully qualified doctors of non-European Economic Area nationality are employed by the NHS; and how many were employed by the NHS in each of the last five years.

Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.

Drugs: Rehabilitation

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the next round of funding for delivering drug treatment strategies as part of the public health programme is expected to be announced.

Caroline Flint: The Department's press release announced the allocations to primary care trusts for the pooled drug treatment budget for 2007-08 on 26 January 2007. A copy of the press release has been placed in the Library.

East of England Strategic Health Authority: Acute Beds

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the impact of the acute services review on major capital development programmes in the East of England strategic health authority area; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: Any proposals for the reconfiguration of services are a matter for the national health service locally. There is a well-established and well understood process for managing consultations on such changes so that patients, the public and local stakeholders can help to inform the local debate.

Eastbourne Hospital

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many accident and emergency admissions were received at Eastbourne District General hospital in each of the last five years.

Andy Burnham: Information is not collected at the level of individual hospitals. Available information on the number of admissions via accident and emergency (AE) departments at East Sussex Hospitals National Health Service Trust is shown in the table. Information on the number of attendances at AE is a separate collection.
	
		
			   Admissions via AE 
			 2002-03 17,461 
			 2003-04(1) 17,085 
			 2004-05 17,335 
			 2005-06 17,700 
			 2006-07(2) 12,999 
			 (1) Admissions via all AE types were first collected in Q1 2003-04. Data after this date are for all AE types, prior to this the figures are for admissions via major (type 1) AE only. (2) 2006-07 data are for Q1, Q2 and Q3 only.  Source: Department of Health, QMAE dataset

Eating Disorders

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people between the ages of  (a) 10 to 16,  (b) 17 to 23 and  (c) 24 to 30 years were diagnosed with eating disorders in each of the last 10 years.

Rosie Winterton: This information is not available in the requested format. Information is available from 2002-03 onwards about the number of finished consultant episodes following a primary diagnosis of an eating disorder, by gender, and for the age ranges 0 to 14 years, 15 to 59 years, 60 to 74 years and over 75 years and is shown in the table.
	
		
			  Number of finished consultant episodes for patients with a primary diagnosis of an eating disorder, by year and gender, for the national health service in England 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05 and 2005-06 
			   2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06 
			  Year/age range  Male  Female  Male  Female  Male  Female  Male  Female 
			 0 to 14 44 234 34 234 47 242 59 269 
			 15 to 59 95 1,282 82 1,284 114 1,413 155 1,604 
			 60 to 74 9 37 11 31 16 32 9 35 
			 75+ 18 34 14 25 8 32 11 32 
			 Total male/female 166 1,587 141 1,574 185 1,719 234 1,940 
			 Year total 1,753 1,715 1,904 2,174 
			  Note:  A finished consultant episode is a period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Please note that the figures represent the number of treatment episodes provided, but do not represent the individual number of patients seen, as a person may have more than one episode of care within the year.   Source:  Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) The Information Centre for Health and Social Care.

Emergency Bed Days

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 19 February 2007,  Official Report, columns 36-7W, on emergency bed days, for what reasons she has not published data relating to 2005-06; and if she will publish this data.

Andy Burnham: Emergency bed days data for 2005-06 is shown in the following table. I regret the information was not included in the previous answer due to an administrative error.
	
		
			   Number of bed days for emergency admission group  Total number of bed days for all admission groups  Emergency bed days expressed as a percentage of the total number of bed days 
			 1997-98 30,342,827 49,535,706 61.3 
			 1998-99 31,177,520 49,863,665 62.5 
			 1999-2000 31,269,251 49,539,741 63.1 
			 2000-01 32,178,037 50,196,951 64.1 
			 2001-02 32,925,334 50,776,911 64.8 
			 2002-03 33,131,586 51,232,337 64.7 
			 2003-04 33,592,698 51,198,417 65.6 
			 2004-05 33,073,383 50,518,668 65.5 
			 2005-06 31,958,716 49,009,234 65.2 
			  Notes:  1. Bed days during the year for finished episodes.  2. Total bed days during the year from episode start date or 1 April (whichever is later) to episode end date or 31 March (whichever is earlier).  3. Admission methods for the emergency admissions included above are:  21 Emergencyvia accident and emergency (AE) services, including the casualty department of the provider.  22 Emergencyvia general practitioner (GP).  23 Emergencyvia Bed Bureau, including the Central Bureau. 24 Emergencyvia consultant out-patient clinic.  28 Emergencyother means, including patients who arrive via the AE department of another health care provider.  4. Data Quality  Hospital episode statistics (HES) are compiled from data sent by over 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England.  Source: Hospital Episodes Statistics (HES), The Information Centre for health and social care.

Family Practitioner Services: Surveys

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients are to be surveyed for the NHS's general practitioner patient survey on hospital choice to be provided by Ipsos MORI.

Andy Burnham: Questionnaires have been distributed to all general practices with a request that they be distributed to all patients referred by their general practitioners (GPs) between 16 January and 30 March 2007 for a first out-patient appointment where the choice policy applies. In some cases, the need for rapid access to diagnosis and treatment may be judged by the GP to override choice-at-referral policy, for example in cases of chest pain or suspected cancer. In other cases, such as maternity or mental health, other kinds of choice may be more likely to improve the patient experience.

General Practitioners: Bedfordshire

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what financial support her Department provides for general practitioners in Bedfordshire to undertake training to become GPs with a specialist interest; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: It is for the primary care trusts in discussion with local general practitioners (GPs) to decide how many GPs with a specialist interest are required and how to fund any necessary training.

General Practitioners: County Durham

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many general practitioners there are per 1,000 of the population in County Durham; and how many there were in 1997.

Rosie Winterton: The information is not available in the format requested. The following table shows general medical practitioners (GMPs) per head of population for the former County Durham and Tees Valley Strategic Health Authority (SHA).
	
		
			  General medical practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars)( 1)  per head of population, County Durham and Tees Valley SHA 
			  Number (headcount) 
			   1997  2005 
			  County Durham and Tees Valley   
			 All GMPs (excluding retainers and registrars)(1) 621 776 
			 Population 1,150,807 1,151,799 
			
			 All GMPs (excluding retainers and registrars)(1) per 100,000 population 54.0 67.4 
			
			 All GMPs (excluding retainers and registrars)(1) per 1,000 population 0.54 0.67 
			 (1) General medical practitioners (excluding retainers and registrars) includes contracted general practitioners, general medical service (GMS) others and personal medical services (PMS) others. Prior to September 2004 this group included GMS unrestricted principals, PMS contracted GPs, PMS salaried GPs, restricted principals, assistants, salaried doctors (Para. 52 SFA), PMS other, flexible career scheme GPs and GP returners.  Note:  Data as at 1 October 1997 and 30 September 2005.  Source: The Information Centre for health and social care general and personal medical services statistics 2001 ONS Population Census.

Health Services: Wales

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many Welsh patients were treated in NHS hospitals in England in 2006, broken down by  (a) type of treatment and  (b) hospital; and how much funding was received by each hospital in payment by the Welsh Assembly Government, broken down by type of treatment;
	(2)  how many patients from Wales have been treated in English hospitals as a result of the Welsh Assembly Government's second offer scheme, broken down by  (a) health authority area and  (b) hospital in which treatment was provided;
	(3)  how much each English health authority has received in payment under the Welsh Assembly Government's second offer scheme since its inception;
	(4)  what estimate she has made of the cost of follow-up treatment required for patients treated at Weston-super- Mare Hospital under the Welsh Assembly Government's second offer scheme who have been recalled following knee surgery; and how the costs of the follow-up treatment will be met.

Andy Burnham: This is a matter for the National Assembly for Wales and I have asked the Health Minister to write to the hon. Member directly.

Health Visitors: Training

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many training places there were for health visitors in each health region in each of the last three years.

Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.

Hearing Aids: Stoke on Trent

Joan Walley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on access to digital hearing aids in Stoke on Trent.

Ivan Lewis: In order to improve access and reduce waiting times for audiology services, the national audiology framework 'Improving Access to Audiology Services in England', was published on 6 March 2007.
	This measure will assist in significantly reducing waiting times and will greatly benefit those who receive hearing aids.

Herbal Medicine: Regulation

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on her plans for the future regulation of herbal practitioners; and what principles will underlie the proposed new regulatory regime.

Rosie Winterton: A working group has been established to prepare for statutory regulation of herbal medicine, traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture practitioners. The working group, chaired by Professor Mike Pittilo, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, has met three times so far and is currently working towards preparing a report to Ministers.
	The purpose of statutory regulation is to improve public protection by setting clear standards of training and competence for herbal medicine and acupuncture practitioners. It would also reassure patients that a practitioner they consult is not only suitably qualified, but also competent and up-to-date with developments in practice.

Hospital Beds

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what change there has been in the number of  (a) NHS beds,  (b) general and acute beds,  (c) intermediate care beds,  (d) non-residential intermediate care places and  (e) adult critical care beds since the publication of the NHS Plan; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: The information requested is in the following tables:
	
		
			  Table 1: Average daily number of available beds 
			   All specialties (excluding day only)  Cumulative change  General and acute  Cumulative change 
			 1999-2000 186,290 0 135,080 0 
			 2000-01 186,091 -199 135,794 714 
			 2001-02 184,871 -1,419 136,583 1,503 
			 2002-03 183,826 -2,464 136,679 1,599 
			 2003-04 184,019 -2,271 137,247 2,167 
			 2004-05 180,966 -5,324 136,184 1,104 
			 2005-06 175,646 -10,644 133,033 -2,047 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Number of intermediate care beds 
			   Number of beds  Cumulative change 
			 1999-2000 4,242 0 
			 2000-01 (1) (1) 
			 2001-02 7,021 2,779 
			 2002-03 7,493 3,251 
			 2003-04 8,677 4,435 
			 2004-05 8,928 4,686 
			 2005-06 9,007 4,765 
			 2006-07 8,733 4,491 
			 (1) Not collected.  Notes: England figure is a pro-rata based on resident PCT populations. This is due to one PCT not returning data. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Number of places in non-residential intermediate care schemes 
			   Number of places  Cumulative Change 
			 1999-2000 7,149 0 
			 2000-01 (1) (1) 
			 2001-02 13,878 9,636 
			 2002-03 19,078 14,836 
			 2003-04 17,298 13,056 
			 2004-05 20,558 16,316 
			 2005-06 20,637 16,395 
			 2006-07 23,403 19,161 
			 (1) Not collected  Notes: England figure is a pro-rata based on resident PCT populations. This is due to one PCT not returning data. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 4: Number of open and staffed adult critical care beds on the census day 
			  Census date  Critical care  Cumulative change 
			 15 January 2000 2,362 0 
			 14 July 2000 2,343 -19 
			 15 January 2001 2,885 523 
			 16 July 2001 2,940 578 
			 15 January 2002 3,030 668 
			 16 July 2002 3,070 708 
			 15 January 2003 3,097 735 
			 16 July 2003 3,128 766 
			 15 January 2004 3,143 781 
			 15 July 2004 3,160 798 
			 13 January 2005 3,240 878 
			 14 July 2005 3,215 853 
			 16 January 2006 3,278 916 
			 13 July 2006 3,242 880 
			 15 January 2007 3,359 997

Hospitals: Infectious Diseases

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many trusts have received an improvement notice as a result of failure to comply with the Code of Practice since October 2006.

Ivan Lewis: No improvement notices have been issued yet. The Health Act 2006 gave the Healthcare Commission the power to issue improvement notices if it considers that a national health service organisation is not observing the provisions of the Code of Practice in any material respect. The Act, however, includes various other matters that the commission needs to take into account before this power is exercised. The commission is currently reviewing the arrangements in all 41 trusts whose annual health check and rating published in October 2006 gave rise to concern with respect to health care associated infection. This programme will be completed by the end of March. The commission has assured me that if this work reveals evidence of any material failures to observe the provision of the code the issue of formal improvement notices will be likely to follow.
	In addition, trusts are being required to make a specific declaration by 1 May regarding their observance of the code as part of the next annual health check cycle. The Healthcare Commission will follow up these declarations as part of a programme to review the application of the code in trusts where there may be risks of inadequate performance. The issuing of improvement notices is an important power to help secure the safety of patients and the commission will use this new power when it is appropriate.

Independent Reconfiguration Panel

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what decision was reached in each case which she referred to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel; and by what date a decision is expected in each case which has not yet been decided.

Andy Burnham: The Secretary of State has referred four cases to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) for advice. The four cases equate to seven separate referrals from Overview and Scrutiny Committees (OSC). Details of the cases and their outcomes are listed. A further case in East Kent was referred to the IRP in April 2003 although this did not relate to a referral from an OSC.
	In relation to the 'Making it Better' and 'Healthy Futures' cases, these are currently with the IRP for consideration. The IRP will advise on the cases by 26 June 2007 and the Secretary of State will make a final decision thereafter.
	Cases referred by the Secretary of State for Health to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel:
	Proposed changes to maternity services in Calderdale and Huddersfield:
	Referred by: Calderdale and Kirklees Joint OSC
	Outcome: IRP advice accepted in full by the Secretary of State with a decision to support the local NHS proposals for in-patient consultant-led maternity care to be centred on the Calderdale Royal hospital site together with an alongside midwife-led unit. A standalone midwife-led unit would be provided at the Huddersfield Royal infirmary site.
	Acute services review in Hartlepool and Teesside:
	Referred by: Stockton on Tees borough council, Middlesbrough council, Hartlepool borough council
	Outcome: IRP advice accepted in full by the Secretary of State. IRP advice was that a modern hospital should replace the existing out-of-date hospital buildings and be provided on a new site in a well situated location accessible to the people of Hartlepool, Stockton on Tees, Easington and Sedgefield. Until the new hospital is open, consultant-led maternity and paediatric services should be centralised at the university hospitals of North Tees and a midwifery-led maternity unit and a paediatric assessment unit should be provided at the University hospital of Hartlepool in addition to elective surgery and emergency medical services, taking into account best practice.
	'Making it Better' consultation on. the reconfiguration of in-patient services for women, babies, children and young people in Greater Manchester, East Cheshire and High Peak:
	Referred by: Salford OSC, Bury OSC, Rochdale OSC
	Outcome: To be confirmed.
	'Healthy Futures' reconfiguration of Hospital Services in the North East Sector of Greater Manchester:
	Referred by: Rochdale OSC
	Outcome: To be confirmed.

Infant Milk

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research she has  (a) commissioned and  (b) supported on the inclusion of synthetic fluorides in infant milk formulas.

Caroline Flint: pursuant to the reply, 11 January 2007, Official Report, c. 697W
	The Department and the Food Standards Agency have not commissioned or supported research on this topic. The composition of infant formula is harmonised at European Union-level (EU), and for fluoride reflects the recommendation of the EU Scientific Committee for Food that, on safety and nutritional grounds, no minimum level, but a maximum level of 100 micrograms of fluoride per 100 kcal, should be set. This advice recognises the potential fluoride intakes of infants from supplements and/or water used to make up the formula.

Medical Treatments: Somerset

Jeremy Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individuals involved in road traffic accidents in  (a) Taunton and  (b) Somerset in each year since 2000 received hospital treatment as a direct result.

Ivan Lewis: The number of individuals involved in road traffic accidents in Taunton and Somerset is not available in the requested format. Tables have been placed in the Library, which provide data for hospital admissions where the external cause was road traffic accidents for patients who lived in the Dorset and Somerset strategic health authority area since 2000.

Mental Health Services

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many mental health patients who committed suicide in the last 10 years were first treated by the NHS on an adult mental health ward when they were under the age of 18 years;
	(2)  how many mental health patients who committed a homicide in the last 10 years were first treated by the NHS on an adult mental health ward when they were under the age of 18 years;
	(3)  how many times in the last 10 years an inquiry has been carried out into a suicide by a mental health patient where the patient was first treated on an adult mental health ward when they were under the age of 18;
	(4)  how many times in the last 10 years an inquiry has been carried out into a homicide by a mental health patient where the patient was first treated on an adult mental health ward when they were under the age of 18.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 19 February 2007
	Information is not collected in the format requested.
	The Confidential Inquiry into homicides and suicides has been asked by the Department (via the National Patient Safety Agency) to collect this information. This process will begin in April 2007.

Mid-Essex Hospital Trust: Hospital Beds

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS hospital beds there are in the Mid-Essex Hospital Trust area; and how many there were in  (a) January 1997,  (b) January 2001 and  (c) May 2005.

Andy Burnham: The following table shows the average daily number of beds at Mid-Essex Hospital Service NHS Trusts for each of the financial years requested.
	
		
			   Total number of beds 
			 1996-97 888 
			 2000-01 843 
			 2005-06 809 
			  Source: Department of Health form KH03

Midwives: Manpower

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the work force of the NHS in England, expressed in terms of  (a) headcount and  (b) whole-time equivalent, was represented by midwives in each year since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: The proportion of the national health service work force represented by midwives since 1997 is shown in the following table. Between September 1997 and September 2005, the number of midwives employed in the NHS has increased by 2,423 (10.8 per cent.).
	
		
			  Qualified midwifery staff in England as a proportion of the total NHS work force as at 30 September each specified year 
			  Percentage 
			   Headcount  Full-time equivalent 
			 1997 2.1 2.1 
			 1998 2.1 2.1 
			 1999 2.1 2.0 
			 2000 2.0 2.0 
			 2001 2.0 1.9 
			 2002 1.9 1.9 
			 2003 1.9 1.8 
			 2004 1.9 1.8 
			 2005 1.8 1.7 
			  Source: The Information Centre for health and social care non-medical work force census

Multiple Sclerosis: AIDS

Nicholas Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate her Department has made of the number of people in England who have  (a) multiple sclerosis and  (b) AIDS.

Ivan Lewis: We have made no estimate of the number of people living with multiple sclerosis.
	In 2005 there were 43,625 individuals living in England diagnosed with HIV infection and who accessed HIV-related care or treatment. Of this number, 9,868 have had an AIDS defining illness between their date of first HIV diagnoses and 2005.
	Estimates would suggest that additional to the 43,625 individuals living with diagnosed HIV infection in the United Kingdom, an additional third (approximately 14,000 to 15,000) remain undiagnosed.

National Centre for Health Outcomes Development

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects the National Centre for Health Outcomes Development to report to her Department on the results of their research on emergency readmissions.

Andy Burnham: The Department expects to receive the report by June 2007.

NHS: Cleaning Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on how many occasions since October 2004 matrons have exercised their authority to withhold payment for cleaning services by the process set out in the Matron's Charter.

Ivan Lewis: We do not collect this information centrally. The withholding of payment is the final part of a process which provides an ultimate sanction if reconciliation steps fail.
	Issues relating to the performance of individual cleaning contractors are managed by the parties to that contract.

NHS: Finance

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the contribution was from the budget of each participating primary care trust to the London-wide NHS Reserve in each year since 2002.

Ivan Lewis: The following table shows primary care trust (PCT) top-slice forecast outturn to London strategic health authority at quarter three, 2006-07. From 2006-07 we have abolished planned support and given strategic health authorities the ability to generate reserves from top slicing their PCT allocations. This topslicing did not occur previous to 2006-07.
	
		
			  Q3 2006-07 PCT forecast outturn topslice 
			  PCT name  000 
			 Barking and Dagenham PCT 13,045 
			 Barnet PCT 12,816 
			 Bexley Care PCT 7,552 
			 Brent Teaching PCT 12,015 
			 Bromley PCT 10,952 
			 Camden PCT 11,438 
			 City and Hackney teaching PCT 14,840 
			 Croydon PCT 12,462 
			 Ealing PCT 13,042 
			 Enfield PCT 10,294 
			 Greenwich teaching PCT 11,235 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham PCT 8,838 
			 Haringey PCT 10,176 
			 Harrow PCT 7,489 
			 Havering PCT 9,352 
			 Hillingdon PCT 9,045 
			 Hounslow PCT 8,775 
			 Islington PCT 9,932 
			 Kensington and Chelsea PCT 8,034 
			 Kingston PCT 5,924 
			 Lambeth PCT 13,755 
			 Lewisham PCT 11,719 
			 Newham PCT 13,876 
			 Redbridge PCT 9,114 
			 Richmond and Twickenham PCT 6,629 
			 Southwark PCT 11,819 
			 Sutton and Merton PCT 13,553 
			 Tower Hamlets PCT 12,268 
			 Waltham Forest PCT 9,398 
			 Wandsworth PCT 11,376 
			 Westminster PCT 10,783 
			  Source: Financial monitoring returns quarter 3 2006-07

NHS: Finance

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the projected end-of-year revenue balance is for each primary care trust in England for the year 2006-07;
	(2)  how much and what percentage of its total allocations was top-sliced from each primary care trust's budget allocation in England for the year 2006-07.

Andy Burnham: This information has been placed in the Library.

NHS: Finance

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to top-slice the budgets of primary care trusts in England for the year 2007-08; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: All national health service organisations are currently in the process of finalising their financial plans for 2007-08. We have made clear in the 2007-08 NHS operating framework that strategic health authorities (SHAs) will not generally require the scale of contribution to SHA reserves seen in 2006-07 because of the return of the NHS to overall financial balance this year.

NHS: Manpower

John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the  (a) advantages and  (b) disadvantages of counting NHS staff using (i) headcount and (ii) whole-time equivalent basis; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: National health service workforce statistics are collected on both a headcount and whole time equivalent basis to enable the level of workforce resource to be accurately planned taking into account factors such as work/life balance. This will also feed into paybill and pension modelling, and numbers of training commissions.

NHS: Manpower

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate her Department has made of the future need for  (a) midwives,  (b) school nurses and  (c) health visitors; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: It is for local planners with support from the workforce review team to determine their future requirement for midwives, school nurses and health visitors to meet local service needs.

North London Breast Screening Service

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 9 March 2007,  Official Report, columns 2303-04W, on the North London Breast Screening Service, what the action plan  (a) to recommence breast screening and  (b) to clear the backlog is; when she expects the full plan for the recommencement of screening services to be (i) completed and (ii) fully implemented; what other screening units are being considered; what the (A) longest and (B) average time is for which an individual has been waiting for a screening appointment; what the new procedures are which are to be embedded in the service; when she expects to be able to estimate the cost of the reorganisation and consequent additional cost; from which budget the costs will be met; and if she will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 15 March 2007
	This is a local matter. However, the trust is currently working towards the completion of detailed plans to reopen the service during April. The service has been subject to an external review by the national breast screening service quality assurance team. The implementation of all the recommendations arising from the review continues to form a key part of the planning process. The trust will be able to confirm the precise arrangements for resuming the service after the review team has completed its work and is expected to have happened by the end of March.
	Plans for clearing the backlog are currently being developed as part of the overall planning process to reopen the service. Preliminary contacts have been made with other breast screening units in London to assess the potential for contracting additional capacity from other providers to assist with clearing the backlog.
	A full action plan is currently being drawn up for the recommencement of screening services. This will be completed and implemented once the outcome of the external review is known. The full plan is expected to be in place by the end of March.
	Patients currently wait an average of three years to be screened in line with national standards. All women currently due for an appointment will have to wait an additional three months due to the temporary closure of the unit.
	A number of new procedures are being introduced to ensure the efficient and safe running of the unit in the future, including:
	implementation of a comprehensive framework for the management of quality in the breast screening service.
	right results guidelinesthis deals with the initial suspension issue of ensuring women who have had a normal mammogram are re-invited for an appointment when they mention other possible symptoms during their appointment.
	It is important to note that the temporary suspension of the service was not due to financial considerations. However, the additional financial costs for resuming the service will depend on the outcome and recommendations of the quality assurance review. It is therefore not possible to make an estimate of the costs at this time.
	The primary care trusts and the trust are in ongoing discussion as to how the costs will be shared between the organisations.

Ophthalmology: Training

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment her Department has made of the merits of funding continuing education training for dispensing opticians.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 15 March 2007
	The national health service provides a contribution to the cost of continuing education and training for professions whose income derives in part from providing NHS services. Under deregulatory changes approved by Parliament in 1986, the NHS provides optical vouchers to certain eligible groups to assist in buying glasses or contact lenses, but the dispensing of glasses is carried out on a private basis. The Department considers that these arrangements work well in promoting choice and access to services and that it would be anomalous to use public funds to make continuing education and training payments to health care professionals who do not provide services under contract to the NHS.

Patient Choice Schemes: Surveys

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what factors were taken into account in choosing Ipsos MORI to provide the NHS's GP patient survey into hospital choice.

Andy Burnham: Ipsos MORI was chosen in line with the Department's procurement guidelines.

Patients: Telephones

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many bedside patient telephone units are provided by hospitals in each primary care trust in England.

Andy Burnham: This information is not collected on a primary care trust basis. However, information is available for strategic health authorities (SHAs).
	The number of operational bedside television and telephone units, per SHA is shown in the table.
	
		
			  SHA  Number of operational bedside television and telephone units( 1) 
			 East Midlands 1,489 
			 East of England 7,516 
			 London 11,647 
			 North East 6,686 
			 North West 16,152 
			 South Central 5,730 
			 South East Coast 5,826 
			 South West 8,671 
			 West Midlands 7,195 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 9,246 
			 Total 80,158 
			 (1 )Data as at June 2006 note: this information is no longer collected centrally.

Peyronie's Disease: Medical Treatments

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what advice she has provided to NHS trusts on the recommended treatment for Peyronie's disease;
	(2)  which NHS trusts will provide implants as treatment for Peyronie's disease.

Ivan Lewis: The Department has not provided national health service trusts with advice on the treatment of Peyronie's disease. Treatment options will depend on the severity of the disease, and can include the insertion of an implant for the most severe cases.
	Information on which trusts provide implants as treatment for Peyronie's disease is not collected.

Pregnant Women: Lancashire

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women in Lancashire failed to have ante-natal check-ups in each of the last five years.

Ivan Lewis: The information requested is not held centrally.

Primary Care Trusts: Voluntary Organisations

Helen Southworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the performance of primary care trusts in implementing the compact with voluntary organisations in their area.

Ivan Lewis: In 2002, the Department wrote to all national health service organisations in England asking them to sign up to, or be working towards, a geographically relevant local compact by 31 March 2004. Data to confirm the extent to which this was achieved are not available centrally (although anecdotal evidence would suggest that progress has not been uniform).
	I made a fresh commitment to the principles of the compact on 1 December 2006 in a joint statement with Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO). In addition, following the report of the Third Sector Commissioning Task Force last July, the Commissioning Framework for Health and Wellbeing, published for consultation on 6 March, reflects the principles of the compact in positioning the third sector as an important contributor to the commissioning and provision of high quality, responsive services, and promoting a fair playing field for all providers.

Psychiatry: Private Sector

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what payments  (a) her Department and  (b) the NHS made to the Priory Group and its subsidiaries in each year since 2000.

Caroline Flint: The Department has made no payments to the Priory Hospitals Group in the period April 2002 and February 2007. Information relating to earlier years is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	We do not hold a list of all the subsidiaries of the Priory Group but the Department have not made payments to any of the clinics listed on the Priory Group webpage.
	Information relating to payments by the NHS is not held by the Department.

Royal Surrey County Hospital

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many pieces of correspondence were received by her Department on the subject of the future of the Royal Surrey hospital during  (a) November 2006,  (b) December 2006 and  (c) January 2007.

Ivan Lewis: The numbers of letters received by the Department concerning the future of the Royal Surrey hospital, in the period 1 November 2006 to 30 January 2007 inclusive are as follows.
	
		
			  Month  Pieces of correspondence received 
			 November 2006 1,243 
			 December 2006 374 
			 January 2007 118

Social Services

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health which inspection regimes monitor local authorities' activities in social care.

Ivan Lewis: The Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) monitors and regulates local authorities(') regulated social care services and local authorities' performance in delivering their adult social services functions. Councils' performance in delivering social services for children are monitored through joint area reviews and annual performance assessments, led by Ofsted and in conjunction with CSCI.
	In addition, some inspections are run jointly with the Healthcare Commission, the Housing Inspectorate or the Audit Commission.
	All assessments of council performance in social care feed into the comprehensive performance assessment, led by the Audit Commission.
	The responsibility for assessing councils' provision of regulated children's social care services will pass to Ofsted on 1 April.
	CSCI publishes comprehensive performance assessments and reports on local authorities on its website at www.csci.org.uk.

Sunscreens

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will commission research into the relationship between the cost of sunscreen and the prevalence of its use.

Caroline Flint: The Department has no plans at present to commission such research. SunSmart, the national skin cancer prevention and sun protection campaign, run by Cancer Research United Kingdom on behalf of the UK Health Departments recommends:
	spend time in the shade between 11 and 3;
	make sure you never burn;
	aim to cover up with a hat, t-shirt and sunglasses;
	remember to take extra care with children; and
	then use factor 15+ sunscreen or higher.

Surgery: Foreign Workers

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many visiting surgeons operated in the NHS in each of the past five years for which figures are available, broken down by  (a) surgeons' country of origin,  (b) type of operations conducted and  (c) employing hospital.

Rosie Winterton: This information is not collected centrally.

Surgery: Out-patients

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what percentage of outpatient operations were cancelled in each NHS Trust area in each of the last five years; and if she will make a statement.

Andy Burnham: Data are collected on the number of last minute cancellations, where a hospital cancels a patient for non-clinical reasons on the day the patient is due to be admitted or after arrival in hospital, or on the day of surgery.
	
		
			  Number of operations cancelled at the last minute and as percentage of elective activity 
			   Quarter One  Quarter Two  Quarter Three  Quarter Four  Annual 
			   No.  %  No.  %  No.  %  No.  %  No.  % 
			 1996-97 11,595 1 11,055 0.9 13,023 1.1 16,374 1.4 52,047 1.1 
			 1997-98 12,019 1 11,550 1 12,476 1 14,460 1.2 55,505 1.1 
			 1998-99 12,384 1 11,470 0.9 14,611 1.1 17,685 1.3 56,150 1.1 
			 1999-2000 12,313 0.9 12,017 0.9 15,769 1.2 20,143 1.5 60,242 1.1 
			 2000-01 17,033 1.3 16,965 1.2 18,844 1.4 24,976 1.8 77,818 1.4 
			 2001-02 20,833 1.6 20,901 1.6 20,036 1.5 19,973 1.5 81,743 1.5 
			 2002-03 14,808 1.1 14,826 1.1 17,706 1.3 19,914 1.4 67,257 1.2 
			 2003-04 14,092 1.1 14,364 1 17,782 1.3 20,065 1.4 66,303 1.2 
			 2004-05 14,672 1.1 14,929 1.1 17,402 1.3 21,566 1.6 68,569 1.2 
			 2005-06 15,690 1.1 13,058 0.9 14,819 1 17,236 1.2 60,803 1 
			 2006-07 12,562 0.9 12,275 0.8 12,622 0.9

Warneford Meadow

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has for the future of Warneford Meadow in Oxford.

Caroline Flint: It has been agreed that ownership of Warneford Meadow will transfer from the Secretary of State for Health to the local health economy. It is a matter for the local national health service to determine how best to use their resources to meet local health needs.

Written Questions

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she expects to answer questions  (a) 119012,  (b) 119018,  (c) 119016,  (d) 119017 and  (e) 119009 on the treatment of Welsh patients in English hospitals tabled by the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham.

Andy Burnham: Answers have been given today.